The Most Extreme Jobs in Science

From crocodile behaviourist to faecal transplant technician, Katherine Nightingale and Jo Carlowe look at some of the most extraordinary jobs in science.

- Katherine Nightingale & Jo Carlowe

THE LAVA LOVER

Name: Dr HUGH TUFFEN

Job TItle: VOLCANOLOGIST

Based: LANCASTER UNIVERSITY, THE UK

I first became interested in volcanoes when I was about seven. I slept with a volcano picture book under my pillow. There have been of concern moments. One night in Chile, heavy ash and pumice rained down on our camp and we had to decide whether to stay or go. Or there was the time we were digging increasingly desperately into the mountainside to find uncontaminated snow to melt for drinking water. I also spent months camping in Iceland for my PhD, enduring days of wind and rain. It’s not much fun putting on wet clothes for the fourth day in a row, but the exquisite beauty and isolation of the environment makes up for it.

I study what makes volcanoes explosive and how the gas trapped in magma drives violent eruptions, forcing out lava and throwing ash kilometres into the air. We’re also trying to figure out what controls the way that lava f lows, in the hope of helping people who live in its path. This means travelling abroad to erupting volcanoes, often at short notice, to witness these explosions.

Sometimes, it’s possible to walk up to lava as it f lows and take samples with a shovel. Back in the lab, we’ll heat a sample to over 1,200°C so it’ll behave like it’s in the volcano. This means we can see what’s happening on a microscopic scale.

Knowing that my work can help lots of people is motivating. But it’s annoying that there are far too many interesting volcanoes to study, and that’s before you even include the ones on other planets and moons in our Solar System.

THE CROC PSYCHOLOGIST

Name: CHERIE CHENOT-ROSE

Job Title: RESEARCH BIOLOGIST AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN CROCODILE EDUCATION SANCTUARY