|
|
I began my undergraduate career
at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in January of 1996. I was
undecided for a little while until I took Physical Geology and I got
hooked. The professor, Dr. John Taylor was a great teacher and he
presented Geolgoy in a way that truley intrigued me. I started out in
the Environmental Geology track, but after an internship at a consulting
firm, I realized I wanted more than that from a career. So, I
switched to the Geoscience track and decided to continue on after my bachelor's.
But what would I do? The thing I'd always found most interesting in
nature was it's raw power. Volcanoes are an amazing force in nature
and one that I've always found exciting and intersting. It bacame my
goal to study volcanoes.
I kind of fell into a wonderful opportunity half-way through
my undergrad career to work with a paleoclimatologist / oceanographer at
the university. Dr. Steve Hovan, put my career path in motion.
I spent two and half years working on ocean sediments in his lab and
creating a senior thesis project entitled, Latitudinal Migration of the
Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the Pacific Ocean during the
Cenezoic. I learned how to perform lab experiments,using many
different types of scientific equipment. He gave me the opportunity
to travel to a national scientific conference to present the
research. He gave me the courage and support I needed to make a big
decision when I bagan to apply for graduate school.... to go straight for
my PhD. I owe a lot to Dr. Hovan and will always be indebted to him.
I found another huge part of my life at IUP, my best friend
Christa Ziegler. Christa and I worked in Dr. Hovan's lab together and
became known as his "lab rats". We got along famously
almost immediately. We spent tons of time together in and out of the
lab (mostly in) and supported one another through a lot of tough
times. She has been a huge part of my life and I am very grateful for
her support.
|
|
