Graduate Spotlight

Katie Boldt
Marine Geology and Geophysics

 

 

Why did you choose to become an Oceanography Graduate student?

After a fantastic semester of field geology during my junior year at Dartmouth College, I knew I had chosen the right major, but I wanted experience in marine science as well. A semester with the Sea Education Association gave me my first real taste of oceanography. The SEA program consisted of two six week periods split between developing a research project on land and implementing the project while crossing the entire North Atlantic on a sailing ship.  I lived and worked onboard while conducting and writing my research project.  The experience instilled in me an incredible sense of awe for the sea, and opened my eyes to the many research opportunities in oceanography.  I spent the next summer working with a marine geologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution studying hurricane deposits preserved in the coastal sedimentary record. I loved the science and the fieldwork – so I proposed to extend the summer project into my undergraduate honors thesis. This independent study was such a rewarding experience that I decided to apply to graduate school! I realized Oceanography at UW was the right place due to the multi-disciplinary approach to world-class research, and the positive attitude about pursuing a Master’s degree as part of a PhD track.

 

Why did you choose Marine Geology & Geophysics as your study option?

I chose the Marine Geology & Geophysics option because my passion for geology is the reason I became interested in oceanography. As a marine geologist, I aim to acquire the tools and perspectives of an oceanographer in order to answer geologically motivated questions. My Master’s project focuses on what happens to particles trapped in an energetic tidal environment as they are transported from land to the marine stratigraphic record. For my PhD, I will combine perspectives from glaciology and marine geology to study the complex boundary between marine-terminating glaciers, the sediment sequences that record glacial history, and how these deposits affect the terminus behavior of glaciers exposed to warming ocean water.

 

Have you participated in fieldwork?

Without fieldwork, I would have no research! I've spent many weeks in all kinds of weather on the coast of southern Washington for my Master’s research. I collect sediment cores, deploy oceanographic instruments, and make detailed measurements about what processes occur in an estuary as the tide rises and falls. This past winter, I had the opportunity to conduct preliminary fieldwork for my PhD project in a fjord along the Southern Patagonian Icefield in Chile. Four of us from UW spent a week measuring water-column properties and mapping the bathymetry and subsurface from small boats. We were tens of kilometers away from any town and were able to get right up to the ice face of the glacier we are studying. Each day was an adventure dodging ice bergs and working in a new and spectacular environment. My studies have also taken me to central Utah to map outcrops of rocks that were formed underwater, the Mississippi River delta, glaciers in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska, and almost the entire coast of Washington.

I absolutely recommend participating in fieldwork! Working in the field is one of the primary reasons I love geology and oceanography. There is absolutely no substitute for the perspective and intuition gained from experiencing a new environment first hand, thinking on your feet and getting your hands dirty. I always return from the field with a sense of adventure and accomplishment, and motivation to return to the lab in order to answer the questions we set out to study.

 

What are your plans for this academic year and beyond?

I'm spending the rest of the summer and fall devoted to finishing my Master's project and writing a paper for publication. I will defend my degree in the fall and then continue to work on my PhD project. Over the course of completing my PhD, I will help design and implement an interdisciplinary course dedicated to the interface of glaciers, land, and the ocean in order to gain more teaching experience. After graduate school, who knows?! I hope to build a career combining glacier-ocean research with teaching and mentoring. I also want to perfect my very imperfect Spanish, travel around the world, cultivate my own vegetable garden, and lots of other things…!