Q&A: Education and Careers in Tsunami-related Research
- Where did you learn all your information about tsunamis from?
- What other kinds of tsunami research are there; other than numerical modeling?
- What kind of training did you have to become a scientist?
- Do you travel all over the world monitoring volcanoes, or is it just here in Alaska?
- I was wondering how many people you work with in the field?
Where did you learn all your information about tsunamis from?
I started studying tsunamis 20 years ago and I still study them. It takes
continuous learning. If you start studying now, maybe in 20 years you
will be an expert. [Answered later] I started studying tsunamis in Russia
in 1986 during the third year of college. Then, I started graduate school
and studied the same subject. Then, I came to America and starting studying
tsunamis from the numerical point of view, from numerical modeling. It
took me several years to complete my Master’s degree in numerical
modeling of tsunami waves. I still work in that area today. Math is required
and physics is required. For someone who likes math, it is an exciting
area to work in. I like tsunami waves because they are easy to visualize;
much easier to visualize than plasma waves or aurora particles, for example. - Elena Suleimani, Tsunami Modeler/Research Analyst
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What other kinds of tsunami research are there; other than numerical
modeling?
Physical modeling and geological research. - Elena Suleimani,
Tsunami Modeler/Research Analyst
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What kind of training did you have to become a scientist?
I went to the University of Alaska. I got a Bachelor’s degree and
then I proceeded to get a Master’s degree as well. I think it was
one of those instances where I happened to be at the right place at the
right time. They were hiring some people at the end of my degree to monitor
volcanoes and of course I was very interested in it. So I got a job and
here I am still working and really enjoying the job very much. - Guy
Tytgat, Geophysicist, Alaska Volcano Observatory
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Do you travel all over the world monitoring volcanoes, or is it just
here in Alaska?
For me, it’s here in Alaska. Some of my colleagues are going to South
America and Asia, but I stay in Alaska. As you saw on the map, we have
many, many volcanoes here so it’s actually keeping me quite busy
here and I really wouldn’t have the time to go to other volcanoes.
I think it would be interesting. I would love to do it, but we’re
really busy here in Alaska. So no, I haven’t traveled to other places.
With this job you really travel a lot. I mean, my summers are spent almost
entirely out in the field fixing stations, installing new ones because
the environment down in the Aleutians is really, really tough. The weather
is really harsh and on mainland Alaska we have another problem. We’ve
got those big furry animals that tend to cause a lot of damage. Usually
bears and black bears tend to be very curious and they’ll go and
look at our instruments and often times they’ll start chewing at
them and virtually nothing will work anymore. So there’s a lot of
maintenance and repair to be done because of mostly weather and also bears
and things like that. - Guy Tytgat, Geophysicist, Alaska Volcano Observatory
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I was wondering how many people you work with in the field?
The Alaska Volcano Observatory is whom I work for. It’s actually
a group of three agencies. We have the USGS, which is the federal government.
We have the DDGS, which is the state government, and then the University
of Alaska Fairbanks. So we have people in different places with different
agencies. But all together, the people that do work or maintenance in
the field like me, there’s only five of us and that keeps us pretty
busy. Granted, when we go in the field, we often need manpower so we
often use students because students are learning. They are very interested
in finding out how all these instruments work and we need people to shovel,
move instruments, and connect things. So you know, we both win. On a
typical trip, depending on how much work there is, we’ll have between
two and four people working together. - Guy Tytgat, Geophysicist, Alaska
Volcano Observatory
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