“WHY I WANT TO BE A GEOLOGIST.” Jessie McCraw, SA-8475, University of Arizona
Although I wouldn’t know it for a decade to come, my career as a geologist began as a toddler. My family would take walks outside along the beach and in the mountains, and after a while my mother would hear an odd clacking sound. It took her a few walks to dis- cover the source: it was the symphony
of all the rocks I had been picking up along the way, rattling away in my pockets.
I am starting to find that all children have this curiosity, whether it is about rocks, space, or animals. This curiosity, enough to compel a child to pick up something they just found and keep it for the sake of looking at it, is one of the driving forces of science. From the youngest ages, all children have the ability to find something inherently interesting, and to choose to explore it. For that reason, I find myself drawn to working in the local community and schools to promote science literacy. I choose to teach earth science, because no child can resist a giant, colorful baking soda volcano, but I aim to get kids excited about all sciences. I want kids to contemplate, ques- tion, and understand the science behind our wonderful world.
It has become my goal to provide unique and engaging outreach opportunities, and to make sure those are acces- sible to everyone. I get a thrill when children settle down, enthralled, to listen to the story of how the dinosaurs died, or when they begin jumping up and down with excitement when they learn that we have prepared sets of rocks and minerals for them to keep! However, I know that these children won’t keep these rocks to themselves; they proudly bear their egg cartons in front of them full of shiny new stones, sharing. Sharing what they learned about the tiny quartz fragments and how they can scratch glass, and how olivine comes from the deepest volcanoes - they share it with anyone who will listen: parents and peers, grown-ups and other kids. I truly believe that the excitement of learning something new, and sharing that knowledge, is what creates the passion to drive science forward. The excitement and curiosity of children discovering science teaches me that we need to connect with them whenever we can, from the very beginning.
I know that connecting with the community through outreach works because I see the enthusiasm of the kids translating from one to the other. I see them look at me, in my scuffed, dirty boots and a cool meteorite hanging from a chain around my neck, and I hope they are thinking, “I can
be that.” Not that, as in me, but that, as in a scientist who is following her passion. When a five year old boy comes up to me at an outreach event and tells me about how he wants to be a geologist when he grows up, it melts my heart. Just one kid being excited about geosciences is enough to make me want to go back and do it all again.
Every day I am given the opportunity to be swept away by the geologic wonders of the world, great and small. It reminds me that I am so lucky to be a scientist. It begs the question, “what can everyone do to find this same wonder and joy in life?” The answer is simple: follow your passion and use it to make the world a better place. For me, a big part of using my passion to make the world a better place comes in the form of connecting with kids from a young age and engaging their curiosity, and encouraging them to let their curiosity grow into knowledge, understanding and passion. The old saying is knowledge is power, and giving people the power to change the world with science is all I want to do.
Knowing how the process of science works is important, but it’s the understanding of how science makes a difference that can inspire future scientists. A young kid may not understand how to complete a geological hazards survey, but when we explain to them the importance of these surveys is to protect people from dangerous natural hazards like earthquakes, they empathize with the need to make the world better, safer, and happier. Outreach can help people make the connection between the process of discovery and how we use these discov- eries to make the world better. Science does that for people.
As a geologist, I want to be able to ask the questions that contribute to people’s understanding of our Earth and all the beauty it contains. I’ve been lucky enough to appreciate the Earth’s beauty from a very young age. In the future, I long to find a job where I can make community outreach and volun- teering a regular aspect of my life. I want to convince people through discovery that the Earth and all its beauty is here for them to experience and appreciate, but also to protect, along with all the people living on it..
I want to be a geologist because it is a privilege to have the opportunity to really, truly, and deeply understand our planet, and to share that understanding with others. But I don’t just want to be a geologist, I am one. Even though I’m currently a geology student, I have always referred to myself as a geolo- gist. I have been from the time I picked up my first rock and I will be, as long as I keep sharing my passion for science.
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18 TPG •
Jul.Aug.Sep 2017
www.aipg.org
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