PhD Candidate, Volcanology, Lis Gallant @lisgallant: A Day in the GeoLife Series

NAME: Lis Gallant

CURRENT TITLE: PhD Candidate (I successfully defended my dissertation on April Fools’ Day) , Instructor, and Assistant Field Camp Coordinator

AREA OF EXPERTISE: Volcanology, specifically the assessment of lava flow hazards

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 9

EDUCATION: 

B.S. Electronic Media, Arts, and Communications (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2009)

B.A. Geology (Buffalo State College, 2012)

M.S. Geology (University of South Florida, 2016)

Ph.D. Geology (University of South Florida, August 2019)

PAPER: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/46/10/895/548206/a-new-approach-to-probabilistic-lava-flow-hazard

TWITTER NAME: @lisgallant

What’s your job like?

My job is a combination of teaching, field studies, and research. I occasionally consult for the energy industry to determine site suitability for infrastructure in volcanic landscapes. 

What’s a typical day like?

My daily activities have shifted mostly to editing my dissertation as I work towards finishing up this August. During the semester, I split my day between teaching (lesson planning, student meetings, grading, and instructing) and research (analysing field data, writing computer programmes, etc.). Over the summers, I work as a coordinator for our Field Camp in Idaho. This involves providing 3 meals for everyone in attendance (usually around 30 people), instructing on the local geology, grading, wrangling undergraduates in the field, minor first aid, and everything in between.

What’s fun?

The travel is my favourite part of the job. Volcanology fieldwork and conferences have taken me to El Salvador, Australia, Nicaragua, Colombia, Italy, and many places in the American West (Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and California). Later this summer, I will be assisting researchers from NASA with fieldwork in Iceland. 

What’s challenging?

Task switching and adjusting priorities are two of the biggest challenges. It’s important that I be able to amend my constantly evolving to-do list in a way that allows for me to work as part of a team (co-author, instructor, staff, etc.), while still completing tasks that help me progress through my degree. I have the least direction on research tasks (it makes sense, I am forging a new path), so they are often the hardest to complete (and tougher parts of research are easier to put aside in favour of simpler tasks). 

What’s your advice to students?

Don’t be afraid to identify the aspects of your degree that you don’t like. Knowing what you’d be keen to avoid in the future is just as powerful as establishing your path forward. Also, go to office hours! Your professors and teaching assistants want to help you succeed, and the best way to do that is to establish a rapport with them by making those personal connections.