exciting. But Krippner
continues, “If you see
a huge boulder that
was deposited with a
lot of impact marks on
the surface, you can
imagine that this block
was part of a chaotic,
moving mass of rocks
hurtling down the volcano.”
Krippner continues: if she
also sees a rock containing
tubes i lled with larger grains,
knocked-down and burned trees,
and landscape that appears to have
been moved or destroyed, then she
knows she’s looking at terrain formed
by pyroclastic l ow—the movement
of bits of volcanic rock, ash, gas,
and lava.Picture Taking
When Krippner’s working—especially
someplace as photogenic as the
volcanic crater of Mount Ngauruhoe
in New Zealand—she makes sure to
take in the view and watch wildlife.
Julia Shoni eld watches what’s
going on around her too; her latest
i eldwork was performing an acoustic
survey of owls in the boreal forest of
Canada, the part of the country just
south of the Arctic. She says, “h ere’s
always something interesting to take
photos of
while in the
i eld: wildlife,
landscapes,
sunsets,
l owers,
berries, bees
pollinating
l owers, early-
morning frost
on leaves,
bird nests
with eggs,
mushrooms.”does. Armitage
continues, “I did
an experiment
once where
I glued tiny
numbered tags
to the backs of
hundreds of snails,
and then measured
their lengths each
week to see how
they grew in restored
marshes. h at was tedious,
but busy!”Rock Watching
Downtime during i eldwork can
also be the opposite of busy. Janice
Brahney is a biogeochemist whose
work takes her into environments
such as mountain lakes. She proposes
that downtime is for sleep. Janine
Krippner, who studies volcanos,
agrees: downtime can be a good time
to rest as “i eldwork can be physically
demanding.” In addition, Krippner
uses the time to observe what’s
around her. “One of my favorite
sayings is ‘the best geologist is the one
who has seen the most rocks,’ so any
time around rocks is an opportunity.”
You make a face. Rocks just sit
there, right? h at doesn’t sound
Behrensmeyer uses her sketchbook in
adition to a camera, but she says she
lets her “mind wander away from the
i eldwork into the lives of the people
and wildlife around me.” Armitage
agrees: “Having unstructured thinking
time is a part of how science works.”And Drinking It All In
But downtime isn’t all extracurricular
observations, quizzing yourself on
rocks, or “thinking laterally”—as
Behrensmeyer puts it—about research
problems. Her cold, rainy days in the
i eld in Pakistan were enlivened by the
cooks bringing tea and pakoras, spicy,
deep-fried breaded vegetables.
Krippner takes her tea with sugar
and lemon. Behrensmeyer of ers that
she “loves hot tea with milk, and in
Pakistan, it was delicious with water-
buf alo milk.” Behrensmeyer describes
her study sites as “eroded, rocky
‘badlands’ where it’s possible to see
fossils weathering out of the ancient
strata.” So you’re surprised when
she says, “Strangely, drinking hot
tea is very refreshing in a hot desertI bet I’m
growing
faster
than you!