Isla Simmons

This PhD was hosted in the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh in partnership with the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, Open University.

A PhD is hard work, but some challenges lead to great stories and you always learn something from the experience.

What was your research about?

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For my PhD I investigated a little-known volcano in southern Chile, determining its past activity and gaining an understanding of its magmatic plumbing system in order to establish what future hazards it may pose.

What made you apply to the E³ DTP?

The project sounded amazing! I love fieldwork, so the opportunity to do a PhD studying a remote volcano in Chile really appealed to me.

I liked the idea of being part of the DTP because it provided a lot of additional support and training, and because I would have the option of doing a 3-month paid internship with any organisation I wanted to work with as part of my PhD.

What did you find challenging in your PhD?

I think my greatest challenge was the fact that lockdown began just as I was starting to properly write up my thesis. Although being shut up at home without the distractions of the sociable PhD office might seem like a benefit for writing up, initially I really struggled to concentrate while working from home and found the situation very stressful.

A PhD is hard work, but some challenges lead to great stories and you always learn something from the experience. Other challenges I faced and lessons I learnt during my PhD included trying to transport over 20kg of rocks from a volcano in southern Chile to Edinburgh (no one will believe that your bag is full of rocks until they try to lift it themselves), helping to co-ordinate a rescue when my supervisor broke his leg during fieldwork (always make sure your emergency contact details are correct and up-to-date), and being mugged in Santiago airport (always leave enough time for connecting flights, and never trust a “helpful” member of staff when you are stressed and confused).

Looking back, what would you have done differently?

I wish I had made the effort to learn at least the basics of coding. I’m not a fan of computing, and never needed any coding skills during my PhD, so stayed well away from all forms of programming. But I think coding is a useful skill in today’s world, and during my PhD would have been the perfect time to try to learn.

I liked the idea of being part of the DTP because it provided a lot of additional support and training, and because I would have the option of doing a 3-month paid internship with any organisation I wanted to work with as part of my PhD.

Which aspects of your PhD did you enjoy the most?

Apart from the friends I made during my PhD, the best part was definitely the fieldwork experiences.

My PhD field trips were a great adventure as the volcano I was studying is very isolated, so the only way to reach it was on horseback. Fieldwork involved a 6.5-hour horse ride up from the nearest farm to reach our base camp, at a beautiful lake up on the volcano. My field assistant and I would spend 2 weeks wild camping, walking across the volcano each day to map out old lava flows and flank vents, and collecting rock samples to bring back to Edinburgh. At the end, we had to hope that the horses would arrive to pick us up on the prearranged day, to carry us (and all my rocks!) back down.

Which skills did you gain during your PhD?

Working with colleagues in Chile and Guatemala greatly improved my Spanish, and the process of publishing in peer-reviewed journals helped to improve my scientific writing skills. I also learnt practical geochemical skills – preparing samples for XRF analysis, using the electron microprobe, how to evaluate data acquired during analysis etc.

The challenges I faced during fieldwork (my supervisor falling ill just before we were due to leave, wildfires throughout Chile closing all the National Parks etc.) taught me to be adaptable when things don’t go to plan. I learnt to make the most of the opportunities that were available, rather than panicking about what was no longer possible, and by taking charge of the situation I was able to ensure that, despite the setbacks, my fieldwork was still productive.

What would not have been possible without the DTP?

For my PIP, I spent 3 months in 2019 working with INSIVUMEH (Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología) in Guatemala. This was an incredible opportunity that wouldn’t have been possible without the opportunity and funding provided by the DTP. During my internship I was responsible for creating resources to educate the public about volcanoes. I have done a lot of volcano outreach work in Edinburgh, and so I translated some of the activities I had previously designed into Spanish and used them to deliver volcano education workshops in schools.

I also had the opportunity to participate in fieldwork at all three of Guatemala’s persistently active volcanoes – climbing to the summit of Pacaya while it threw out molten clots of lava above us, studying pyroclastic deposits from the devastating 2018 eruption of Fuego, and camping on the summit of Santa María to watch Santiaguito erupting below us.

How has your PhD helped you to decide on a career path?

I started a PhD not knowing where it would lead me. Although I have really enjoyed my PhD experience,I finally decided that I wanted to take a break from academia, so I did not look for a PostDoc. Instead, I wanted to find a job that involves geoscience outreach, as this has been something that I have loved doing alongside my PhD. While completing my PhD, I have had the opportunity to be involved with lots of outreach activities – science fairs in primary schools, the university Doors Open Days, events at Dynamic Earth, tutoring undergraduate students as they completed their own outreach projects etc. – and I enjoyed interacting with the public and enthusing them about volcanoes and science.

While completing my PhD, I have had the opportunity to be involved with lots of outreach activities [...] and I enjoyed interacting with the public and enthusing them about volcanoes and science.

And now?

After submitting my thesis, I continued to tutor on the same courses that I taught throughout my PhD, and in addition I had the opportunity to deliver lectures for one of these courses.

In April 2021, I began working as the editorial assistant at Futurum, an organisation that creates educational resources for schools from academic research, so I'm putting my science writing and communication skills to good use!