Randy is a member of a team of people that
make up the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP). They're
usually called the "volcano crisis assistance team" and they were
the models for the heroes of the recent popular film, "Dante's Peak".
They chase volcanoes all over the world to do detective work and
predict what a particular volcano is going to do. They look to answer
three questions; 1) is a volcano going to erupt, 2) how big will
the eruption be, and 3) how much time do we have? It's a form of
large-scale crisis intervention that they do to save lives from
the destructive force of volcanoes.
Randy and
his team go out into the field to visit volcanoes that have shown
recent increases in seismic activity. He's like a doctor who visits
the volcano to put his fingers on its pulse to check for signs of
life.
"Typically,
there's a lot of earthquakes associated with the underground movement
of magma that's trying to make its way to the surface for an eruption",
says Randy. That's usually one of the events that gets the locals
worried about whether or not their sleeping volcano is considering
waking up. That's when Randy and his team get called into action.
"Unlike
most seismology organizations, we can be rapidly deployed", says
Randy. "Our entire team, techno-gear included, can be on a plane
in 24 hours. That's probably the main reason we are the number one
team of scientists dispatched to the scene of a volcano site."
Randy's
team is quickly mobilized and arrives first on the scene. They set
up their equipment and train some local people on how the equipment
works and what to watch for. Once the volcano monitoring station
is in place Randy's team moves on to the next potentially active
volcano site and they do it all again. They keep checking back with
everybody they've dialed in to make sure all's well, occasionally
revisiting the monitoring sites to keep things on track.
You won't see Randy standing
on the rim of a caldera with lava spewing in the background, though.
His team is there BEFORE that happens; they collect data and once
they know how much time they have, they're outta there!
One of the
most important pieces of equipment that he uses to collect information
about the potential of a volcano is a seismometer (essentially
a magnet on a spring which transmits ground movement to a receiver
that plots the measurements on paper in the form of "squiggly lines").
Like a doctor using a stethoscope to listen to a heart beat, Randy
uses a seismometer to "listen" to rumblings deep underground. But
measuring the ground movement isn't enough, other measurements are
needed to determine if there's a potential for an eruption. Surface
deformation (you know, if the ground is "bulging") and atmospheric
gases are also sampled. High levels of CO2 and SO2
are also possible indicators of trouble ahead.
His job
takes him out in the field about three or four times a year, and
more often if there's increased volcanic activity afoot. Randy and
his team were involved in predicting the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo
in the Philippines. An estimated 20,000 lives were saved when his
team predicted the time, the size, and the place of the eruption,
the largest in the world in almost 80 years! Randy says he and his
team have successfully predicted several other recent volcanic eruptions
in Latin America. "It's much more rewarding work than the work I
used to do trying to predict earthquakes. We still haven't figured
out how to do that".
Maybe YOU
could be the scientist who figures out how to predict earthquakes,
saving thousands of lives.
Other Cool Stuff....
Randy visits
a lot of foreign countries where the most active volcanoes are located.
"Being able to get
around
in a foreign country is extremely important as a scientist, if you're
going to get any work done. Speaking the language of the native
people goes a long way towards getting cooperation from the locals.
You can learn a lot about the history of the area from visiting
libraries and speaking with local people. You might find useful
information that you never would have gotten otherwise. Information
that helps to put together important pieces of the puzzle". Randy
speaks fluent Spanish, and understands Italian and Portuguese. As
a foreign exchange student in high school, he lived near the flanks
of erupting Mt. Sakurajima in Japan, where he picked up an interest
in volcanoes and some of the Japanese language.
Randy enjoys hiking, rock
climbing and occasionally steer roping. He cracked one of his ribs
trying to wrestle down a steer recently. One of his personal goals
is to swim in as many caldera lakes as possible. So far, he's swam
in 14 around the circum-Pacific "ring of fire".
Here are the other primary
members of the VDAP:
C. Dan Miller - Chief Geologist
(Ph.D)
Chris Newhall - Geophysicist/Geologist (Ph.D)
John Ewert - Geologist/ Deformation Expert (M.S.)
Andy Lockhart - Electronics and Technology Expert (M.S.)
Jeff Marso - Computer Expert (M.S.)
Marvin Couchman - Electronics and Technology Expert (B.S.)
