What’s It Like To be Archives - Page 3 of 5

Research Technician

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Kevin Bishop and I have been at the NIH since 2006. I attended Virginia State University and earned a degree in Biology. While in school, I worked in a zebrafish lab for two years and interned in a microbiology lab at the Medical College of Virginia. After graduation, I taught high school in Richmond, Virginia, but felt the calling of research so I decided to take a job at the NIH. Please tell our readers a little bit about the National Institutes of Health and what you do there. The purpose of the NIH is to explore biomedical and basic research. I am technician within the National Human Genome Research Institute, specifically the Zebrafish Core. We use the zebrafish as an animal model to explore the complexities of cancer and other diseases in humans. Why is this work important/how does it apply to everyday life for most people? This work is important because human diseases are a hindrance to the overall quality of life. We are learning everyday how to confront natural and unnatural biological problems that will be solved in time. Most people have a direct or indirect encounter with diseases like cancer. People like me are working very hard to solve this problem through different means, however, we all at the NIH have the same goals, making life better for everyone. What is the coolest thing about your job? The coolest part of my job is working with the zebrafish. It is a beautiful and powerful animal model to behold. Most people have seen them in pet stores, but to observe them and all their biological processes is truly amazing. What is a typical day like for you? My typical day starts with spawning my fish for experiments. Once the fish spawn, I will start injecting embryos to make mutants by manipulating the mRNA of the organism. I will also observe the fish as they develop. The embryos are clear for the first 30 hours of their life, so I can see things like organ development and growth. What kind of training does it take to do your job? You need to have a basic understanding of molecular and developmental biology. Experience is key, so interning in a lab that uses animals is a great place to start. When/how did you know you wanted to work at the National Institutes of Health? I knew when the human genome was decoded. It was mind-blowing to know that the entire human had been mapped, and I wanted to be part of the genomic revolution. What are some challenges you face in your work? One challenge is attempting to tackle complex genetic problems that require lots of thought, in-depth literature research and critical thinking. We also have the challenge of working with live animals, which may or may not cooperate when I want to conduct experiments. Sometimes they spawn, sometimes they don’t, but I have to remain focused and patient. What do you like to do when you are not working? I love sports, reading and concerts. I am a Yankees fan, so whenever they come into D.C., I always make it a point to see them live. My favorite band in the universe is The Roots, so I will venture to any venue that hosts them in this area. What a cool job! Thanks for sharing with our readers!

What’s It Like To be

Astrophysicist?

Thanks for taking time for this interview! Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Christopher Moore and I am an astrophysicist. I am currently in graduate school pursuing my Ph. D. in astrophysics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Graduate school has a lot of class work, teaching responsibilities and big tests. I have always been interested in how things work and the beauty of stars in the night sky, so physics and astronomy were great choices for me to study in college. Hard work, dedication and a strong curiosity have given me the opportunity to do what I love. Part of my Ph. D. involves a very small satellite (called a CubeSat), the Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS, please check out our website! http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/minxss/) Please tell our readers a little bit about what you do. I am the Instrument Scientist for MinXSS. In labs here on Earth, I test the performance of the detectors for our satellite and compare their actual performance to a predicted performance based on physical models. It is important to understand how efficiently the detectors can count X-rays and determine each X-ray’s energy before we launch MinXSS into space to observe the Sun, because we do not exactly know the amount and energy of the X-rays created from the Sun. So, I shine a known amount of X-rays (of different energies, like a rainbow) on the detector and see how the detector responds. MinXSS will measure X-rays from the Sun after it is launched into space. X-rays are very energetic versions of visible light, and like a rainbow, a bunch of X-rays can have different colors, or energies. The outer atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona, is around 1 million degrees Kelvin (around 2 million degrees Fahrenheit) and this is much hotter than the surface of the Sun, which is near 6,000 degrees Kelvin (10,000 degrees Fahrenheit). The outer atmosphere of the Sun is so hot that it makes X-rays. Thus, I also use physical models to predict the ‘rainbow’ of X-rays created by the Sun to estimate what our CubeSat will observe. Why is this work important/how does it apply to every day life for most people? A big mystery is exactly how the Sun’s atmosphere is hotter than its surface. Explosive events like solar flares, create a lot of X-rays and charged particles in a few minutes. We currently do not know exactly how many and the energies of X-rays are released by solar flares. The particles created by solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs, large amounts of matter ejected from the atmosphere of the Sun) can disrupt satellites, harm people onboard polar airplane flights, cause harm to future astronauts on deep space missions and create aurora here on Earth. We have to continue to study these ‘solar storms’ to better understand them and to predict when they will occur in the future. What is the coolest thing about your job? One of coolest parts of my job/career is having fun doing experiments and watching predictions come true. As a student, I get to work on a satellite that is currently in space (the first MinXSS CubeSat launched from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in December 2015), and I think that is really cool. The fact that a piece of equipment that I worked on is in space is amazing. Another unique aspect is the opportunities to travel across the United States for the MinXSS CubeSat and other career opportunities. I have been to Florida, Hawaii, California and many other places, and it is all for science! In my travels, I get to meet people of different backgrounds and cultures and these have been great experiences. What is a typical day like for you? Designing, building, testing and operating a satellite takes a team. There have been more than 40 graduate students that have worked on MinXSS under the guidance of professionals and professors. So it depends on the day and what is needed for the MinXSS CubeSat at that time. Normally, I spend time in labs with X-ray sources or special labs called clean rooms were it is necessary to dress in a special suit. What kind of training does it take to do your job? To succeed in physics at the graduate school level, it is important to be comfortable with math, be able to solve problems on your own and communicate your ideas effectively. Computer programming skills are becoming more and more important, too. Also, having the ability to understand the basic concepts of a complex idea and then apply it in a situation is necessary. Some of this training happens in school. Other parts must be developed through experience. If you want to study, physics, math, engineering and/or astronomy, learn as much as you can in grade school and high school. When/How did you know you wanted to be an astrophysicists? I was always curious about the world around me and liked to build things. As a kid growing up in the Chicagoland area, I did not see many stars at night because of the bright city lights. I knew that the stars were there but did not really know how many were in the sky. One day, when I was about 12 years old, I was on a vacation with my family. We were far from the city lights. When I looked up at the night sky and saw vastly more stars than I did back home, this astonished me. From that point on I was fascinated with space and stars. What are some challenges you face in your work? Working on satellites, detectors and the physics of stars requires a wide range of knowledge. Anything can go wrong or break at any time. CubeSats have relatively smaller teams than the big satellite missions, so more workload falls upon each member. Skills in physics, math, computer programing, chemistry and engineering are critical. Learning so much, so fast and then applying…

What’s It Like To be

Ecuadorian Biologist

KVN: Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Washington Tapia. I’m an Ecuadorian biologist, born in the Galapagos Islands (about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador). I love reptiles and am lucky to be able to work for the conservation of the giant tortoises of Galapagos. I have two children who are currently in high school, and the oldest, who is headed to university later this year, has decided to follow in my footsteps and study biology. KVN: Please tell our readers a little bit about the Galapagos Conservancy and what you do there. The Galapagos Conservancy, a non-profit organization in the United States, was created more than 20 years ago to help protect the plants and animals of the Galapagos Islands. As the Director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, I organize and carry out a number of different projects in Galapagos to ensure that the giant tortoise populations are healthy and thrive, including many field expeditions to remote and beautiful parts of the Islands. KVN: Why is this work important/how does it apply to every day life for most people? This work is vital as it helps to conserve one of the most natural and beautiful sites on our planet. Protecting the tortoises also contributes to the well-being of humans in that they help maintain ecological balance in natural areas and beautiful forests, leading to pure air for all humanity and helping to diminish the effects of climate change. KVN: What is your favorite animal? My favorite animals are the giant tortoises of Galapagos and the crocodiles of the Nile River in Africa. KVN: What is the coolest thing about your job? The best and most fun parts of my job are the field trips when I get to camp on uninhabited islands in completely natural areas surrounded by wildlife. KVN; What is a typical day like for you? A day in the field typically begins at 5 a.m., when I get up to prepare breakfast. At this hour it is still dark on the equator, but we must be ready to work once the sun comes up. At 6 a.m., I head off with my field companions to begin work. We usually hike 3-4 kilometers over rough lava and often through thorny plants to the study site. Once at the site, we spread out in search of giant tortoises in their natural habitat. We collect data on what they eat, how far they travel, their size and weight and other useful information about their environment. We continue this work, constantly hunting for tortoises, until 5 p.m. when we hike back to camp. We often arrive just as it gets dark, but take a few moments to have a quick swim in the ocean before preparing dinner. We retire to our tents early in the evening because the next morning and another day of work come quickly. KVN: What kind of training does it take to do your job? My work requires being a well-trained biologist. At university, I took courses covering zoology, botany, ecology and other similar subjects. The field work, in particular, requires exceptional physical fitness, experiential knowledge of how to survive in extreme conditions and knowledge of first aid. I also lead the field trips, so it is important to know how to manage and work well with people, not just tortoises. KVN: When/How did you know you wanted to work with the Galapagos Conservancy? I knew that it would be a great opportunity to work with The Galapagos Conservancy when the organization created the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative in 2014. I could finally dedicate myself to working with my favorite animals to help ensure their long-term conservation. KVN: What are some challenges you face in your work? Living and working on an island has challenges unlike on continents. Supplies are often scarce and when equipment breaks down it often takes longer to fix. Nearly all of the islands in Galapagos have no fresh water, so we have to take dozens of five-gallon jugs with us for long field trips. In addition to the often difficult field conditions on rough lava under the intense equatorial sun, the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative has many challenges ahead. We are trying to resurrect two extinct species of tortoise and repopulate islands that lost their tortoises in the 1800s due to over-exploitation by whalers who took too many tortoises for food. Our long-term goal is to conserve the Galapagos Islands for the future – through the recovery of all of the giant tortoise populations. KVN: What do you like to do when you are not working? When I’m not working, I love to read, spend time with my family and play soccer.

What’s It Like To be

Adjudicator (Judge)

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Michael Empric, and I’m an adjudicator (judge) for Guinness World Records, based out of New York City. I’ve worked for GWR for about four years and traveled throughout North and South America during that time judging record attempts. Explain a little bit about what the Guiness Book of World Records does. Guinness World Records is the foremost authority on records, in both human achievement and the natural world. Essentially, we’re the ones who try to document the biggest and best in the world, and share that information with everyone through our books, TV shows, websites and social media channels. Why is this work important/how does it apply to everyday life for most people? We have a saying that Guinness World Records is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Many of our most successful repeat-record holders are great examples of what you can do with dedication, practice and focus. What is it like to watch someone break a record? That must be exciting! As adjudicators, it’s important to always remain impartial. While it’s thrilling for people attempting records, our role is to serve as a referee and make sure all of the rules are followed, not to get excited if they’re successful. What do you do at the Guinness Book of World Records? As an adjudicator, my role is primarily to judge record attempts live at attempts throughout North and South America. When I’m not on the road, sometimes I will come into the office to help review evidence that people at home have submitted to Guinness World Records. What is the coolest thing about your job? Meeting people attempting records is always interesting, because no two record attempts are ever alike. Also, the opportunity to travel to so many different places is always exciting, because it helps you to appreciate the world, and our diversity. What is a typical day like for you? A typical day doesn’t really exist when you’re on the road adjudicating. For a typical adjudication, I may leave my home for the airport around 7 a.m. I get to the airport, make it through security and hop on my first flight. Many times, we’re headed to out-of-the-way places, so I’m racing to make a connection or getting re-routed around a storm. Once I land, I’ll usually head over to the attempt venue and meet with the organizers to make sure things are on track, then I’ll eat and check e-mails before bed. On the day of the attempt, it’s often another early morning and then the actual attempt and adjudication process. This can take a few minutes to hours and hours. Then it’s usually back to the airport to do the whole travel process in reverse, usually getting home to New York late that evening or early the next morning. What kind of training does it take to do your job? All new starters at Guinness World Records are sent to London for a week of adjudication training. At a very basic level, you learn how a record is defined, what is and isn’t a record and things like that. You also get trained in presentation and speaking skills, media training and how to accurately measure and count for record attempts. You then have to shadow several record attempts before you’re allowed to wear the Guinness World Records uniform and adjudicate on your own. When/How did you know you wanted to work for the Guinness Book of World Records? I used to read Guinness World Records as a child, but I never actually thought I’d work for them. I was living in New York several years ago, and job-hunting, when I randomly decided to write Guinness World Records a cold letter telling them I was great and they should hire me… luckily, that worked, and they called me a week later. What are some challenges you face in your work? The biggest challenge is the travel. It sounds really fun, but spending days at a time in airports and random hotels is challenging. It’s also hard on your personal relationships, as many times you’re gone on the weekends when everyone else is off having fun. Your friends and family have to be very understanding. What do you like to do when you are not working? Living in New York, I like visiting new restaurants and enjoying what the city has to offer. But most of the time when I’ve been traveling for a week, I just want to chill out on the sofa with a book or catch up on TV shows I’ve missed. What a fun job! Thanks for your time!

Kids

Fishery Biologist

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Jenefer Bell and I am a Fishery Biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Growing up in Connecticut my two loves were the ocean and Alaska. I remember saying to my parents I was going to live in Alaska even before I knew exactly what that meant-the pictures of Alaska were beautiful and the stories filled with excitement and adventure. What does the fish and game department do? The Alaska Department of Fish and Game strives to protect, maintain and improve the fish, game and aquatic plants resources for the state and manage their use and development in the best interest of the economy and the well-being of the people of the state. There are five divisions that focus on managing the state’s natural resources: Commercial Fisheries, Habitat, Sport Fish, Subsistence and Wildlife Conservation. I work for the division of Commercial Fisheries, which focuses on the management of subsistence, commercial and personal use fisheries for the general well-being of the people and economy of the state. Why is this work important/how does it apply to everyday life for most people? Natural resources are so important to the people of Alaska. Their management and protection are part of our state constitution. Fish and game resources are an integral part of life for many Alaskans from the commercial fishermen harvesting Pacific salmon to the subsistence hunter taking a caribou to feed family through the winter. The department helps ensure the people of Alaska can continue to depend on healthy populations of fish and wildlife for their economic stability and to maintain traditional cultures. What do you do at the Fish and Game Department? I work for the research section of the Division of Commercial Fisheries. Specifically, I study the biology and ecology of red king crab and Pacific salmon to help fishery managers make informed decisions about fishing on the resource. What is a typical day like for you? My days are very different depending on the time of year. Because of what I study (red king crab and salmon), most of my fieldwork takes place in the summertime. Fieldwork often consists of going out on small boats to capture red king crab or salmon to collect biological information. Most recently, I spent the summer tagging adult chum salmon to monitor their movement from the ocean into different rivers. In the winter months my days are filled with analyzing the data I spent all summer collecting. I also write reports and attend meetings to learn what other research in being conducted within the state. What do you most enjoy about your work? I most enjoy the adventure of doing fieldwork in Alaska and trying to figure out what a small, one time glimpse into the life of a crab or salmon might mean to the overall big picture of their lifecycle and how I can apply that to management of the species to ensure their persistence into the future. What are some challenges you face in your work? What I enjoy about my work is also one of the biggest challenges: I collect information from a specific point in an organism’s life and then make decisions on how to manage the species. Because so many people rely on the department’s understanding of the resource it is important to recognize the limits of our knowledge, try to expand that knowledge and make the most informed decisions we can. What do you like to do when you are not working? When not working I love reading and knitting — it is hard to figure out where the yarn ends and the furniture begins in my house. My husband (who lives about 800 miles away-check out an Alaska map, the state is huge) and I also enjoy cross country skiing in the winter and often travel to warmer climates to scuba dive. Though we do scuba dive in Alaskan waters, warmer water is much more enjoyable.

What’s It Like To be

American Fact Finder

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Lynda Laughlin. I work in the Fertility and Family Statistics Branch at the U.S. Census Bureau. I have a doctorate in sociology from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I live in Washington, D.C., but I haven’t always been an East-coaster. I grew up in Boulder, Colorado. Please briefly explain what the Census Bureau does. The Census Bureau collects data about the nation’s people and economy. In addition to the Decennial Census (conducted every ten years), the Census Bureau conducts more than 130 surveys each year. Why is this work important/how does it apply to everyday life for most people? Demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau helps us understand how and where our country is growing and changing. Data from the Census Bureau helps national and local governments determine where to build new houses or schools. What do you do at the Census Bureau? I use statistics to help explain children’s daily activities. For example, I examine what types of childcare arrangements children use or how often children share meals with their parents and even how much television kids are allowed to watch. I care about parents, too! I’ve written about employment outcomes for mothers and fathers and about access to maternity leave. What is a typical day like for you? It often depends on the project. When I was working on my recent report, “A Child’s Day,” I spent a lot of time running data, examining results and writing about how kids spend their day. I also like to think of ways to make census data more fun and interactive. I’ve worked on a number of infographics to help illustrate how many children are in regular childcare arrangements or how much parents pay for child care. What do you most enjoy about your work? I enjoy using numbers to tell a story. What does it mean to you that there are 74 million children between the ages 0 to 17 in the United States? To me it represents an opportunity to talk about the incredible diversity of family life in the U.S. What are some challenges you face in your work? I never have enough time to pursue all my research ideas. What do you like to do when you are not working? I love living in the nation’s capital. There’s so much to do with all the museums and parks. I also love the outdoors and enjoy camping and hiking. How can kids learn more about what the Census Bureau does and why it is important? Ever wonder how many people live in your city or town? The Census Bureau website has a lot of fun tools like American Fact Finder that anyone can use to look up information about their community. It’s as easy as putting in your zip code. The Census Bureau also has lots of reports on a variety of topics like commuting, voting, education attainment and many more. If you don’t have time to read our reports, check out our infographics or simply follow the Census Bureau on Facebook or Twitter. What kind of training does it take to be a demographer? My training is mostly in sociology, but I gain skills and apply demographic methods by taking classes in family demography, statistics and survey design. I’ve also learned a lot about demography on the job and from my co-workers. When/How did you know you wanted to be a demographer? My freshman year of college I took an introduction to sociology class and immediately knew that I wanted to be a sociologist. Later on in graduate school, I found that demographic methods provided me the tools to understand the social world around me. What an interesting job! Thanks so much for your time!

What’s It Like To be

Translator

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Corinne McKay, and I’m a French to English translator in Boulder, Colorado. French was always my favorite subject in school, and I was lucky to have really good teachers who helped me get better at it! When I was in high school, my French teacher even took our entire French class on an exchange program to Paris for three weeks, and that’s when I really decided that I wanted to do a job that involved French. I got my bachelor’s degree in English and French, and during my junior year of college I went to school in Grenoble, France, in a program where I lived with a host family (who didn’t speak a word of English) and took all of my classes in French. After that, I got my master’s in French Literature from Boston College and worked as a high school French teacher for several years. I loved teaching, but when my daughter was born in 2002, I wanted to find a job where I could work from home and use French. That’s when I started my own freelance translation business, and 13 years later, I still love it! What does a translator do? Translators change written words from one language to another. Lots of people confuse translators with interpreters, who work with spoken words or sign language; so now you know (unlike a lot of journalists and radio newscasters!) that the phrase, “Speaking through a translator…” is incorrect, because translators don’t speak…they write! Translators usually work in only one “direction,” into their native language. So for example I only translate from French into English. Interpreters usually work in both directions, for example from English into Spanish and from Spanish into English. What kind of training does it take to be a translator? To be a translator, you need to have near-native skills in your foreign language. Some translators learn their foreign language in school, while others learn it from speaking a language other than English at home—that’s called being a heritage speaker, for example if you speak Spanish at home with your family, but speak English at school. Most translators have at least a bachelor’s degree, which could be in a foreign language or could be in another subject, and lots of translators also have a master’s degree or higher. Translators can be certified by the American Translators Association; if they pass the certification exam, they can put “CT” (Certified Translator) after their name. Translators also specialize: for example there are translators who specialize in translating scientific documents, or legal documents, or computer software, or the manuals that go with medical devices. So, lots of translators also have additional training or work experience in their specializations. When/How did you know you wanted to be a translator? I’ve loved French ever since I started taking it in middle school. In high school, I even used to translate French poems for fun (maybe a strange idea of fun, but I loved it!). When I went to school in France, I did a translation internship where I translated part of a French business school textbook, and that’s when I really decided that someday, I wanted to be a translator. Why is this work important/how does it apply to everyday life for most people? Whether you realize it or not, you probably read translations almost everyday. Books are a good example: I bet that almost anyone reading this magazine has read the fairy tales “Cinderella,” “Hansel and Gretel” or “Little Red Riding Hood.” They were originally written in German, so we can only read them in English thanks to the work of translators. If you buy Chinese tea, Italian tomato sauce or French cheese, and you don’t speak Chinese, Italian or French, you can only read the label because a translator translated it. And if American companies want to sell their products in other countries, they hire translators to translate everything from websites to product labels to patents to legal contracts. It’s actually hard to think of an example of something that would never be translated! What is a typical day like for you? Translators work with clients all over the world, which means that we often have clients in other time zones. I live in the Mountain time zone, so by the time I get up around 7 in the morning, it’s 3 in the afternoon for my clients in France and Switzerland. So, I check my e-mail as soon as I get up, so that I can write back to my European clients before they leave the office. I used to work at home, but now I work in a co-working office where you can rent a desk so that you don’t have to work from home alone. So after I have breakfast with my family, I’ll ride my bike to my office and spend most of the rest of the day translating. I spent most of this summer translating two books (a murder mystery and a mountaineering memoir), but mostly I translate for public health projects in West Africa and Haiti, and for businesses that work with clients in French-speaking countries. What do you most enjoy about your work? Being a translator is a great job if you love to read, write and learn about new things. The other day, someone said to me, “Translators know stuff that nobody else knows!” and it’s kind of true. Here are some things I’ve learned by translating about them: Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, has the world’s largest vacuum-powered garbage disposal system (yes…instead of garbage trucks, they have huge tubes that suck the garbage underground!); Switzerland has four official languages (German, French, Italian and Romansch), but the country with the most official languages is Zimbabwe, which has 16; the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair, and was never meant to be permanent. It was supposed to be demolished in 1909, but the French decided to save it because…

What’s It Like To be

Geodesist

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. My name is Dr. Theresa Damiani. I grew up in Rochester, New York, and spent a lot of time outdoors when I was a kid. My family often went camping and hiking. One of our favorite places was New York’s Watkins Glen State Park, which has beautiful gorges and waterfalls. I was always picking up cool-looking rocks there and bringing them home! Later, my parents signed me up for a summer class about fossils at our local science center. The day we went out collecting fossils is the day I fell in love with geology. In high school, my favorite classes were Earth Science, Physics, Math and English. I went to college at the Pennsylvania State University and majored in geosciences. My first scientific jobs were there at the university, where I worked in professors’ laboratories helping with research projects. I loved it! At Penn State I decided I wanted to be a geophysicist – someone who studies the earth by using instruments to make measurements, rather than collecting rock samples. Geophysicists study earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges and many other interesting features of our planet. To become a professional geophysicist, I moved to Texas and got a doctorate degree from the University of Texas in Austin. While there, I studied Antarctica (that’s the frozen continent at the South Pole, where penguins live). In fact, I was lucky enough to go on an expedition to Antarctica! I lived there and did research for four months. We flew an airplane filled with scientific instruments over a remote part of the Antarctic Ice Sheet that had never been surveyed before. We measured how much ice was there and what the rocks below the ice were made of. After I finished graduate school, I moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the U.S. federal government. I have worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for seven years now as a geodesist. My work now is similar to what I did in Antarctica, but this time we’re making measurements from airplanes all over the United States. In fact, it will take 15 years to make all of our measurements because the U.S. is so big! We are half-way done. What is a geodesist? A geodesist is someone who studies and maps the size, shape and major properties of the earth. They also track how its shape and properties change over time. In other words, they keep track of the locations of points on the earth’s surface and how those points move. The earth’s surface is constantly changing! The tectonic plates move, slowly rearranging the surface of the planet. And the ground sinks and swells both naturally and because people pump water, oil or other resources out of the ground. Geodesists also help people figure out where they are on the planet so they can make sure they do not build their houses in flood zones and they can travel safely – whether on foot, by car, by plane, by train or by boat. What does it take to be a geodesist? An aspiring geodesist first needs to be interested and do well in classes related to the physical sciences, math and/or engineering. In college, most geodesists major in areas like geology, physics, math, geomatics, surveying engineering or aerospace engineering. They then switch to graduate degrees (Master’s or Ph.D.) in geodesy or geophysics after they finish their undergraduate degree. When/How did you know you wanted to be a geodesist? It’s funny, but I didn’t know what geodesists did until I was almost finished with my schooling! It’s a field of study that is often discovered while you’re in college studying similar subjects. I knew I wanted to be a geodesist because the questions we ask and seek to answer about the earth are such big, challenging and interesting questions. Also, our work is critical to commerce, construction and other things humans depend on. It’s rewarding to be able to contribute to society in that way. Why is this work important/how does it apply to everyday life for most people? Geodesy is very important. You use products created by geodesists every day, though most of the time you don’t know it. Geodesists provide coordinates (latitude, longitude, height and shoreline) to map-makers for locations so that maps are accurate. Those maps are used by you when driving and hiking, and also by people doing construction projects and predicting flooding too. Geodesists help figure out which way water flows and make estimates of average sea level around the U.S. Geodesists were also some of the first people to use GPS (the Global Positioning System) for finding accurate positions of things. Now, you use GPS in cell phones and cars all the time to tell you where you are. What is a typical day like for you? Most days I work in an office, at a federal building. I work on teams and by myself. My work involves finding patterns in data on a computer, reading about other people’s work, writing computer code and reports, and figuring out how to answer scientific questions (called hypotheses). I often work on many different projects at once. A few times each year I travel to scientific conferences to give presentations about my work. These conferences are held all over the world. I’ve been to Tasmania, Argentina, Italy, Austria, and many places in the U.S. for conferences. Sometimes I spend a few weeks at a time “in the field.” That means going to different places in the U.S. collecting data from an airplane. Being “in the field” is intense, hard work and very rewarding when everything runs smoothly. What do you most enjoy about your work? I love the opportunity to discover brand new things about the planet we live on, things that add to our basic knowledge of the earth and are useful in our lives. Tell our readers something really cool about your work that most people don’t know. I study…

What’s It Like To be

Storyteller

What does a storyteller do? Well, the simple answer is, “Storytellers tell stories.” Storytelling is live performance art — it’s not reading aloud, nor is it acting. It’s sharing a story through language, facial expression, body language, tone of voice and — most importantly — through imagination. The storyteller holds the story in her imagination — the images, emotions, characters, motivations, etc. — and she helps you experience that story in your own imagination. Storytelling is not about memorizing words and reciting them — the storyteller knows the story but is free to watch and respond to the audience, adapting the language, tempo, sound effects, gestures, etc., as needed. Why is this kind of work important? Another simple answer: Because we are human. Anthropologists tell us that storytelling is central to human existence. From the beginning of time, storytelling has been the way cultures have preserved and celebrated their memories, passed on their values and belief systems, entertained, instructed and reported. Our world has changed, our stories have changed, but our brains are still hard-wired for storytelling. What is a typical day like for you? When you’re a full-time storyteller, there is no “typical” day — that’s one of the joys of storytelling for me. I abhor routine! As a storyteller, in a typical week I might spend Monday performing five sessions for kindergartners in Atlanta, then drive to Knoxville to spend Tuesday leading an all-day professional development workshop for teachers; Wednesday, rush back home to St. Louis to pack for a 24-hour journey to Taiwan to participate in a two-week storytelling festival, performing four or five times a day in schools, libraries and museums. Variety is exciting and challenging and keeps the work fresh! However, having made that point, I should explain that I am a Storytelling Teaching Artist, which means that a great deal of my work is in preschool through high school classrooms, using storytelling as a tool for teaching creative writing or social studies or science or math. Storytelling is a great way to learn! So, a “typical day” might include four or five classroom sessions, perhaps working with 8th graders on researching and writing historical fiction stories about Westward Expansion, or with 4-year-olds who are using creative drama to retell a story. And I finish nearly every day with preparation — working on proposals, invoicing clients, writing lesson plans and developing new stories. When and how did you know you wanted to become a storyteller? When I was a Children’s Librarian with the Miami-Dade Public Library System, our job was to motivate kids to read and use the library. My colleagues and I tried a lot of things, but what worked was storytelling. Once I experienced the power of storytelling, I never looked back! What kind of training does it take to be a storyteller? Storytellers come from all kinds of backgrounds, and so far, we have not standardized any criteria for “what it takes to be a storyteller.” Most storytellers have college degrees; many have masters and doctorates. It helps to have read a lot, listened to a lot of tellers, told a lot of stories to all kinds of different audiences and given a great deal of thought to what you’ve read, what you’ve heard and what you’ve learned. Storytelling takes practice, patience, reflection and the passion to share stories! What do you love most about your job? Travel! I have had the opportunity to work all over the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, and in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Ireland and the Bahamas. I get to meet all kinds of people everywhere I go — and I get to play with the kids and hear their stories. Can you imagine getting PAID to go to fabulous places to do what you love to do and meet fascinating people? What is something challenging about your job? Travel! Being on the road for weeks at a time can be exhausting and sometimes lonely. Some storytellers having a saying: I drive for a living and tell stories for fun. Why is it important for people to understand the world and cultures (and related stories) around them? My friend Carmen Deedy — a truly amazing storyteller and author — says it best for me: “When a child grows up without hearing family stories, she enters adulthood with an incomplete sense of her personal history. This is loss enough. But when a child grows up without hearing folktales and fairytales, she enters adulthood with an imperfect sense of what it means to be a member of the human family.” So why is this work important? Because telling and listening to stories is an essential part of being human. Is there something you wish more people understood about storytelling and its importance – if so what is it? Perhaps this story, told by Metis storyteller Ron Evans, is my best answer: A Peace Corps volunteer, or perhaps it was an anthropologist, in Africa was in a village when satellite television made its debut there. For a period of time, normal village life came to a halt as people watched, slack-jawed. Then slowly, things began to return to some semblance of normality. When asked why people were not watching as much television, a villager replied, “We have our storyteller.” “I understand,” said the volunteer, “but your storyteller knows a hundred stories — the television knows thousands of stories.” With a gleam in his eye, the man quickly responded, “That is true, but the storyteller knows me!”We can use machines, but we are not machines. We are human — and humans need storytellers! Can you tell our readers something really cool about what you do that most people don’t know about? Kids are storytellers, too! In many festivals across the country, kids are onstage telling stories. For example, the Timpanogos Festival in Utah features kids at every venue; the St. Louis Storytelling Festival showcases student tellers from Taiwan; the National Storytelling Network’s National Storytelling Conference…

Kids

Interpretive Exhibits Coordinator

Please tell our readers a little about yourself. My name is Tim Pula. I grew up in the Orlando, Florida, area but now live just outside of Washington D.C. As a young child, I loved going to museums and science centers. Now I am part of the Spark!Lab team at the Smithsonian, where I continue my work of creating open-ended hands-on activities. The activities I get to create here are focused on the process and steps of invention. I really feel lucky that I get paid for playing with toys and creating fun things for museum visitors to explore. The Smithsonian is often referred to as the nation’s attic. Why is that? Much like the collection of stuff in a family’s attic, the Smithsonian’s collection is large and varied. There are over 137 million objects in the Smithsonian collection. The Smithsonian’s objects tell stories about who we were in the past, who we are now and who we may become in the future. However, unlike an attic, our collections are stored in state-of-the-art facilities and are constantly being used. We are always learning new things here! What is it that you do at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History? I work in the Spark!Lab which is part of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. My official title is Interpretive Exhibits Coordinator. I play with toys, manipulate materials, write simple computer programs and build cool stuff for museum visitors to use. All of the activities I work with or create are designed to let our visitors engage in the process of invention using their own ideas and creative problem-solving skills. I also work to ensure that our activities connect in some way to our museum’s collection or work being done through the Lemelson Center. When and how did you know you wanted to work at the Smithsonian? When I was about seven, my family traveled to Maryland to visit an uncle and his family. One of our excursions during this visit was to Washington D.C. I still remember the overload of amazing things I saw as we visited at least three of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall. My most vivid memory, though, is of the full size Triceratops that was outside of the Natural History Museum. I was fascinated by dinosaurs and this was the first full-size, fleshed out model of one I had ever seen. I still have a photo taken of me sitting on that dinosaur. That experience along with all of the other amazing artifacts and collections had me hooked. When I started working at a science museum in 2003 I was continually reminded of the work and collections of the Smithsonian, though I did not expect that my career path would really take me there. Wow, it so amazing to be able to say, “I work at the Smithsonian.” What do you love most about your job? Watching a visitor thoroughly engaged in an activity while family members take photos of their experience. When I see that someone is engaged in the activity they are doing, the experience that most often follows is a pride in what they invented or created. This is due to an “I can do this attitude” that you can’t get from following step by step instructions. The visitor has used their own ideas and imagination to invent something. The end product is their idea. What is something challenging about your job? We will likely have over 300,000 visitors each year interact with the things I create. The biggest challenge of my job is keeping activities operational. In a busy hands-on museum space, activities can easily become what we call “highly loved.” I spend about 80 percent of my building and design time trying to figure out how to make an activity last. I have often explained the situation this way to adults: Imagine you are having a 1,000 or so kids over for about eight hours to learn and play, every day. This is what our activities and museum space experience. What is your favorite exhibit in The National Museum of American History and why? My favorite exhibit has to be America on the Move. I love machines that move. I do, however, have a few favorite collection objects that are not in America on the Move. One of these objects is the Joseph Ellicott tall case clock from 1769. This clock not only tells time it also shows the phases of the moon, depicts the positions of the sun, earth moon and planets and plays 24 different tunes. My other favorite object is an automaton friar which was likely made over 450 years ago. The friar is a wind up character that walks and performs motions that would be common of a friar from the 1500s. The clock and the friar are inspirational for me. Why is it important for people to learn about our nation’s history? It is important to learn about our nation’s history so that we can learn from the experiences of the past. When we look back on American history, we see a lot of amazing accomplishments but we also see a lot of challenging failures. The failures often lead to huge steps forward that lead us right back to more accomplishments. It is important to learn about what made those who came before us keep trying or make changes that lead to success. What did they learn from their failures and how did they work to best use those failures to inform future decisions? These are all important. Can you tell our readers something interesting about America’s history that is not common knowledge? During my time at the Smithsonian I have learned so much. One of the things I found very interesting about American history is that the first at-home video game system was invented in the late 1960s and did not have any computer code involved. The game was operated by electronics hardware only. This game system was…

Category - What’s It Like To be

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Storyteller

Interpretive Exhibits Coordinator

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