>> And so I completed a bachelor's in geology.
I was actually focused on hydrogeology.
So it took hydrogeology as well as more geochemistry courses but I decided that well,
I didn't quite want to go into the environmental industry.
Just it wasn't the type of work that was appealing to me and so during my senior year,
I had to a senior research thesis working
with who would eventually be my master's adviser, Dr. Andy Niblade [phonetic].
I realized that I really had a fondness for geophysics.
I applied -- inquired with Dr. Niblade about a variety of schools.
Applied to for graduate school and after visiting them and him saying well
if you stay here, you get to go to Antarctica.
I was like well, I'm staying at Penn State for a master's.
And for my master's degree I studied deep earth seismology
where I was utilizing earthquakes as a source.
Sort of like a CT scan, a CT scan in a hospital, but instead of having a machine, you --
to study your body, we used earthquakes to study the earth beneath Antarctica.
And that was fascinating and I was still weighing my options as to, you know do I want
to continue on for a PhD somewhere or do I want to go into the oil industry?