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Earth Science Research Scientists 2001225
Name: Kathryn W.
Status: Student
Age: 19
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
I am a student at College of DuPage in the process of
completing an introductory earth science course. One of my course
requirements is to interview a research scientist in the earth sciences
and to produce a biography of that scientist as well as a synopsis of his
or her research. I would greatly appreciate your responses to the
following questions at your earliest convenience.
1. What was your initial motivation to enter your field of expertise?
2. What academic and/or professional preparation was required to lead to
your present position?
3. What do you enjoy the most about your work?
4. What do you enjoy the least about your work?
5. What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
6. Please briefly describe the nature of your scientific research.
7. What impact do you perceive your research has on society?
I am grateful for your willingness to complete this questionnaire.
Replies:
Kathryn,
Here are my answers:
1. What was your initial motivation to enter your field of expertise?
Beginning in elementary school I became fascinated with weather. I would
stand at our front screen door and enjoy seeing storms, snow, etc. Over
the next several years I learned as much as I could about how weather systems
formed and how the Earth's circulation worked. I also made lots of
observations of weather events. This led me into knowing, by the time that
I was a junior in high school, that meteorology would become my profession.
2. What academic and/or professional preparation was required to lead to
your present position?
I obtained a B.S. and a M.S. in meteorology at Penn State, with emphases in
micrometeorology and air pollution meteorology. I worked for two summers
for an environmental consulting company doing air pollution meteorology
and dispersion studies. In graduate school I was a research assistant
performing micrometeorological instrument design, deployment, measurements,
and data analysis for a large interdisciplinary project. Both of these
areas of practical work experience "earned" me my research position
after completing graduate school. Any related work experience is a plus
when looking for a job after college.
3. What do you enjoy the most about your work?
The variety of work and the challenges are the most enjoyable. There is
rarely a dull moment, as they say. I am primarily a problem-solver, which
is fun, and very rewarding when the problem is finally solved.
Furthermore, I have always enjoyed the observational aspects of my
profession; I get to learn new things and build up my knowledge, instead of
just using what I learned in school.
4. What do you enjoy the least about your work?
The amount of work can become overwhelming. As you progress in your career,
you tend to accumulate responsibilities. If you can't (or won't) shed some
of these responsibilities, allowing others to assume them, you will run
yourself into the ground. There are some people I know who work 60-80 hours
per week who have not learned to let go or who can't because they are
workaholics. Certainly their families have suffered for it. Since my family
is a higher priority, I have tried to manage my time well.
Another area that can become a bid difficult is the rapid pace of
technological
change. It is difficult to keep up with all of the changes in techniques
and methodologies being used to accomplish the same purpose, never mind trying
to keep up with sweeping changes in computer science. You must be
flexible and
willing to learn knew things, or you will not survive in a scientific
discipline.
5. What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Solving problems and publishing research results on new information that we
have learned through our work are very rewarding. For instance, in my last
journal article I suggested several chemical reactions that could explain
field experiment research results of enhanced production of nitrogen dioxide
by lightning, results that we and others have obtained but were unexplained
previously; to make a contribution like that is very rewarding.
6. Please briefly describe the nature of your scientific research.
My recent research has focused on the following areas:
The use of specialized micrometeorological and radiological instrumentation in
global climate change and hydrological field programs; the programs that I am
involved in focus on the role of clouds, water vapor, and carbon dioxide in
climate change, and the effects of weather events on the hydrology of a
watershed.
Nitrogen oxides production by lightning.
The characteristics of lightning.
The design of lightning protection systems and application to experimental
facilities,
towers, and munitions storage facilities.
7. What impact do you perceive your research has on society?
Most scientists' contributions tend to have a small impact by
themselves. It is
the large mass of small steps that accumulate to have a significant effect or
benefit.
My most important contributions have been in micrometeorological instrument
development,
a better understanding of the effects of carbon dioxide and water vapor on
climate
change, measurements of pollutant deposition that led to the Clean Air Act
Amendments
of 1990, and a better understanding of the role of lightning in atmospheric
chemistry.
David R. Cook
Atmospheric Research Section
Environmental Research Division
Argonne National Laboratory
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Update: June 2012
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