October 16, 2012

Michael Strick's cool job at NOAA

• Post a comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Michael Strick goes out to sea on climate-research cruises as a physical science technician at NOAA's Seattle-based Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. (Courtesy of NOAA)

What do you do? I prepare, calibrate and check out oceanographic instruments for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate-research cruises. I'm primarily responsible for rain gauges and current meters. These instruments are used on oceanographic research buoys studying El Nino/La Nina in the Pacific, ocean-atmosphere interactions in the tropical Atlantic, and monsoons in the Indian Ocean.

How does someone else get a job like yours? That's a really good question. I often think how I got here. I would say you have to really know what you want to do. For me, I always wanted to do something in science. I've worked on everything from coral reefs to fish physiology to sea lions and fur seals and now oceanography. You really have to love what you do; after that, I think everything else falls into place. That being said, I studied really hard, knew what I wanted and there was probably a little luck involved.

What’s a typical day like? My days are fast-paced and varied. When I'm at the lab at Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), you can often find me at my lab bench working on instruments in the morning. I try to reserve afternoons for paperwork. I usually spend anywhere from 30 to 90 days a year at sea on research cruises. Each cruise runs about 35 days at sea. Days at sea can be long, sometimes 16-18 hours working on deck deploying and recovering a buoy.

What’s the best part of the job? I absolutely love everything about my job. Working on instrumentation, writing up purchasing contracts, working at sea on research cruises -- there seems to be something new to do every day. There has not been a day that I have been bored. I know that sounds "rah-rah," but it's true. NOAA-PMEL is great place to work. I'm lucky I get to interact with such really great people.

What surprises people about your job? Probably the going-to-sea aspect. When I'm job chatting with someone, they find it fascinating and maybe a bit weird that I would voluntarily remove myself from everyday life to go on a research cruise for 35 or more days, when you often have very limited communication with home. I often find myself working with our research partners, and hence, I may be on an Indian, Indonesian or French research vessel.

--NWjobs staff

• Post a comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Read more
Cool Jobs, career profile, cool jobs, featured, quirky jobs, science

0 Comments

Leave a comment

* required field

Your name: *

E-mail address: (Will not be displayed)

Your comment: *

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.