How on Earth did you pick this project?
I am often asked how I came up with a research project,
especially since I was starting in a field that was completely new to me. Well,
it may have been a little easier for me since I am a research assistant versus
a teaching assistant. The grant that I was supported on focuses on comparisons
between TOMS and MODIS data. I figured that since I was going to be working on
this anyway and it sounded interesting that I should pick a topic that was
related. My advisor, Gregg Bluth, suggested that I do a little work over the
summer to jump start things and I think I seemed anxious to start. Since I was
taking the summer off, I had plenty of time and welcomed the work. I began
looking into different satellite sensors (TOMS, MODIS, GOES, and AVHRR) and
recent volcanic eruptions. Gregg suggested that I find 5 volcanoes that had
erupted in the last five years; write a description of what happened, and why I
would like to study it. Narrowing the decision down to five was challenging
because they all seemed interesting. I finally ended up choosing the top five
(Miyakejima, Sheveluch, Popocatepetl, Colima, and Nyiragongo).
When I finally got here to Michigan Tech, I was enrolled in
Volcanic Clouds with Bill Rose. For the class we had to do a research project
and I thought that since I was going to be working on volcanic clouds that this
would be the perfect time to pick which volcano I was going to work on for my
Masters. I had a few talks with Gregg and I had really already narrowed my list
to Miyakejima and Sheveluch, but frankly I didn’t know enough about anything at
that time to make a real scientific decision. So, I picked the one that had a
serious effect on the residents near the volcano-Miyakejima, Japan. For my
project for the class, I decided to compare MODIS and TOMS on August 29, 2000. This
project was really my introduction to remote sensing of volcanic clouds and why
I became so excited about my project.
Just being excited about your project isn’t enough. It is
important to find other folks who are interested in the same sorts of things as
you. This is what I did with the help of my advisor. I simply emailed a few
people and they have become a big part of my project, even hosting me in Japan
for a few days each. At first, I was a little hesitant to do it, but it truly
pays off and is fun to meet people with the same interests.
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