Question: how did you get hooked on thw kiluaea volcano since what part of it made you so interested in volcanos and are you overall happy that you went on the trip?

Kate Dobson answered on 10 Nov 2014:

I am very happy I went out to Hawaii. When I finished my degree I wasn’t sure which bit of geology I wanted to work in, or even if I wanted to work as a researcher. There were lots of options and I wanted to make sure I made the right decision. The Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory were running a volunteer program based at Kilauea, which my lecturer told me about. I applied, and got a place. It gave me a chance to work in research and see if it was for me (which it was). I would have considered a similar position anywhere, and probably in other areas of geology as well, but sometimes things just happen. I wasn’t so much hooked on Hawaii, as hooked on doing research. If you look at my profile, you will see that the route from what I did in Hawaii and what I do today was not a straight one.

Lots of researchers find that we have follow a rather twisted path as the funding that keeps us changes, and the projects we work on evolve. Being adaptable and picking things up quickly is what I think is most important. That and using everything you know on every problem. Just because it’s supposed to be a problem with biology, doesn’t mean that physics can’t help fix it. I am currently using physics and materials science to solve geology problems, and am using the same techniques to study volcanoes as I have used to study ice cream.