|
...before being a grad student... Choosing a research project is one of the toughest decisions of my life, especially now that I am starting my graduate life as a Ph.D. student at Michigan Tech University. For the first time I have to make such a decision and with so many alternatives. When I started my graduate studies four years ago at the Department of Geology, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez... I became an RA and, therefore, although I decided the general topic of my thesis research, it also had to be something that my advisor was interested in. |
||
|
It was quite a strange story, since just before BS graduation I was going to be a marine geologist, or at least that was my biggest interest. But one day, my life changed, when my advisor, Dr. Glen S. Mattioli had the wonderful idea of asking me if I wanted to go do a GPS campaign at the Soufriere Hills volcano, in the island of Montserrat. It was quite the challenge, getting ready in a couple of days, getting a GPS crash course with the guy that I was going to substitute in Monty, and been left in a place with a group of "strangers"... at least then... for a month. It was the most increadible experience of my life, and also quite scary at some moments. Being in the island during the 25 June 1997 dome collapse was the dream of any volcanologist, and it became mine too. It was then that I understood what I was meant to be... I ended up doing very exciting stuff and studying and monitoring a wonderful volcano. It was a sad time for Montserratians, probably the most controversial event in the current eruption, with the first and only deaths caused by the activity. However, from a scientific point of view it was the biggest learning experience, being in the middle of everything and getting inside the whole volcanic hazard assessment. |
||
|
(http://www.mvo.ms) |
||
|
Montserrat's location was a great advantage, since it was close to home and trips were not a problem. So, I became a volcano geodesist/physical volcanologist, and started my difficult but exciting path towards my MS degree. Ground deformation monitoring was my thing, and working and analyzing GPS data became my everyday job. It certainly gave me the opportunity to discover volcanoes. |
||
