Most people find watching an erupting volcano incredibly exciting, and volcanologists are no exception. But there's a lot more to volcanology than that, and in fact most volcanologists spend only a tiny proportion of their time working on active volcanoes. Much of their work is done by studying in great detail the remains of past eruptions at dormant or dead volcanoes, or by monitoring volcanoes that are showing signs of reawakening from a long period of silence. The goals of the science are to understand how and why volcanoes erupt, how to predict their eruption, how they impact on the Earth's history, and how volcanoes may affect humans and their environment. Volcanological research is more like detective work than you might imagine, but the case you're trying to solve involves perhaps the most awesome display of earth's power. Increasingly, volcanologists are also becoming directly involved in dealing with the people who are affected by eruptions. This means communicating about volcanoes and hazards with the public at community meetings, with reporters, with bureaucrats, and with politicians. If this sounds exciting to you, maybe you should consider becoming a volcanologist.

Volcanology is a growing interdisciplinary field of science which overlaps many other fields. It has great relevance to the Earth's origins and development, the understanding of mineral deposits, environmental change, archeology, and human safety. Unfortunately the low level of historical volcanic activity in Canada, it's small population near it's volcanoes, and the small number of universities, has meant that there are relatively few jobs for volcanologists here. Internationally, however, it's a major field of science. Yearly meetings of the scientist group IAVCEI (International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior) attract thousands of volcanologists to discuss their work and the important role of volcanology in countries whose populations are threatened constantly by eruptions. Still, with Canada's growing population and the inevitability of a future Canadian eruption, it is likely that the field within Canada will grow as well. Even today, departments of geology, geophysics and environmental science in Canadian universities do sometimes hire volcanologists. There is also the possibility of working with the Geological Survey of Canada, which is responsible for hazards assessments and the monitoring of our volcanoes. Overall, however, becoming a volcanologist probably means living, studying and working outside of Canada for a number of years. If you're still interested, you'll need to know what subjects to study.

Volcanology is a specialization of the earth sciences, so volcanologists are really just geologists or geophysicists who have specialized knowledge and do work on volcanoes. You need to know at this point that becoming a volcanologist means becoming a scientist, and this generally requires getting a B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science - 3 to 4 years), possibly a M.Sc. (Masters of Science - 1 to 3 years), and a Ph.D. (Philosophical Doctorate - 3 to 6 years). That's a lot of school! Unfortunately, many high schools and even many universities don't offer volcanology courses, and there is no place that offers full degree programs in volcanology. This is because the field of volcanology is made up of pieces of many other fields. So your first step is to study those foundational pieces. At all levels, keep in mind that you want to get reasonably good grades, not only to know the material well but also to maximize your chances of getting scholarships and getting into whichever university you desire.

If you're lucky enough to know you want to be a volcanologist when in high school, you're in a good position. Most people don't know what they want to do until a lot later! At this level, you should be working hard on all the basic academic subjects, in preparation for studies at university. Develop your language skills, you'll need them to write reports, give talks, and communicate clearly on some very tricky topics. You'll also need lots of math, physics and chemistry, as these are the underpinning subjects of the science, and are more important initially than taking earth science courses. If you've got the space in your programme of study, fill it in with geology and geophysics, and volcanology or environmental science if available. It isn't critical to have earth science in your background until you get to university, but it sure helps. You can get some earth science background from geography courses, too. If you don't have the chance to take geology courses at high school, a good thing to do is visit museums, surf websites like this one, and hike in places like Garibaldi Park, Mt. Ranier Park (U.S.), and the Mt. St. Helens National Monument. Many such places have good trail guides that are full of information on geology, and there is no better way to learn about earth science than by seeing, feeling and walking on it.

Once at university, you need to build up more specialized knowledge, but not necessarily by taking volcanology courses. It is ideal to combine as much geology and geophysics as you can, but this isn't always possible. Specializing in one or the other of these is more typical, so that you will find yourself in either a geology or geophysics programme, or possibly an environmental science programme. If you get choices in the courses, topics that are most useful to the volcanologist are:

Geology - igneous petrology, physical volcanology, mineralogy, structural geology, tectonics, field geology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, natural hazards, surface processes, geochemistry and thermodynamics.

Geophysics - seismology, fluid dynamics, remote sensing, continuum mechanics, digital data processing, electromagnetic fields, computer programming, electrical circuitry.

Additional topics that will provide useful background knowledge are oceanography (many volcanoes form in the oceans), meteorology and atmospheric science (eruptions can affect climate). At an advanced stage in your undergraduate degree, it's worthwhile doing an undergraduate or honours thesis course, in which your course consists of your own mini-project of research. This is a good way to get into a volcanology-related topic, but you'll need to find a faculty member that is interested in supervising your work.

Remember that to become a volcanologist you will be going on to do post-graduate study after your B.Sc., and this will probably mean you'll need to get a scholarship. So you need to get the best grades you can.

You can get the needed courses at most Canadian universities that offer degrees in earth science. Some places where faculty members place an emphasis on volcanological or igneous processes are:

If you can afford it, during your summers it's worth considering doing volcanological fieldwork as a volunteer or perhaps as a paid field assistant. There are often opportunities to do this with the Geological Survey of Canada (Vancouver), with university researchers at Canadian universities, or at observatories around the world. The best way to find out about these opportunities is by researching on the web and then contacting people by email.

Your post-graduate degree(s) are really where you will become a volcanologist. In that time you will learn about volcanology by doing your own independent research, under the supervision of a senior, experienced scientist. It's the time when most people define their future career focus, develop their first innovative ideas, and become connected to the international community of workers. A stage that important can't be approached lightly. Avoid waiting till the end of your undergraduate degree to start thinking about your post-graduate work. In the 3rd or 4th year of your undergraduate degree, spend some time talking to relevant faculty about your future. Ask them for advice on places to do volcanology post-graduate work, what people are good to work with, and scholarships you can apply for. Some scholarships, particularly those for international students, require you to apply more than a year in advance and by the time of application you need to have selected your prospective location, advisor, and even project. So you've got to be organized! Spend time reading volcanology research papers, either in the library or on the web (see the section on volcanology on the internet). You should feel free to contact researchers for their advice on projects and places, either by writing letters or using email. Eventually, it is best to meet prospective advisors or even better, to visit them and their university. It's critical that the two of you can get along with each other! A good way to check on how researchers deal with post-graduate students is to talk to their current post-grads. Sometimes researchers have a budget to pay for your travel to visit them, but this is not common. If you can't afford to visit them, a good option is to attend a scientific meeting where you can meet a number of researchers and their students. The American Geophysical Union holds meetings twice a year, one in December in San Francisco and a second in May in Boston, that attracts many volcanologists from around the world. Most volcanologists are very keen to work with good, motivated students, and you'll likely be amazed at their level of interest in you.

At this stage you have the choice of doing a M.Sc. (Masters of Science) or going directly to a Ph.D. (Doctorate). Most Canadians do a M.Sc. first, which usually takes 18 to 36 months. Most Europeans go directly from their undergraduate into a Ph.D. programme, so if you choose to work in Europe you will probably end up doing that. In this period you will take some courses, but probably will spend most of your time doing your own research in collaboration with other scientists, and your own independent learning. If you do a M.Sc. first, you'll need to be considering a location, advisor and project for your Ph.D. well before you complete your M.Sc. thesis.

It isn't likely that you'll be able to get a permanent job as a volcanologist directly after your Ph.D., since most jobs require more experience than that (although there are certainly exceptions to this rule). Most volcanologists do something called a "post-doc" after their Ph.D., which is usually a 2 or 3 year paid research job (sometimes involving some teaching) at a university, observatory or geological survey. Sometimes these post-doc positions evolve into permanent jobs, but usually they don't. Some scientists do 2 or 3 post-docs at different places before settling down with a permanent job.

There aren't a very large number of volcanology positions around, so getting work can take some time. Usually there are only a few on offer each year around the world, which are advertised in scientific publications like the magazine Nature and the weekly newspaper of the American Geophysical Union called EOS. Private companies do not have volcanology positions, so you'll be likely to get work with a university or college (doing teaching and research), with a government geological survey (doing monitoring, hazard-related research and emergency preparedness work), or with a volcano observatory (doing monitoring and emergency preparedness work).

If you have questions about becoming a volcanologist that weren't answered here, feel free to contact us by email.

Other places where you can get advice:

• U.S. Geological Survey
• Volcano World's viewpoint