Lisa Tauxe
Most Scripps scientists make excursions
away from the institution to gather data at sea or in the field, but return
home to San Diego. Lisa Tauxe, a professor and associate research geophysicist
with the Geosciences
Research Division, makes excursions to San Diego, and doesn't even live
in the United States. She conducts most of her research in a laboratory
she built near her home in Bunnik, Holland. Periodically she travels to
San Diego to work in her campus laboratory and meet with colleagues and
students.
She made the move to Holland with her two children and her husband, a former Scripps researcher, when he accepted a professorship in Amsterdam. With the specialized laboratories that she built, and the communication abilities available through computers, her research has not been hindered by her move.
"I work on the magnetic record and geological materials (rocks and sediments) because as rocks form they are like tape recorders of the earth's field," Tauxe said. "How they get magnetized is a subject of great interest to me, also what that record can be used for."
One of her research interests includes using the magnetic record to study earth's magnetic field through time, a science known as paleogeomagnetism. "Most recently I've been interested in the intensity and variations of the earth's magnetic field. It is very difficult to measure the strength, so there has been very little successful work with the field."
A majority of magnetism research focuses on the direction of the magnetic field, not the strength. Tauxe and a graduate student working in her lab developed a new technique for measuring magnetic-field strength. "We're very excited about it and we're very hopeful that we'll be able to make a great deal of progress in the future."
Tauxe was asked to join Scripps while still completing her doctoral degree in geophysics at Columbia University. She came to Scripps in 1983 as an assistant researcher.
"I considered other professions, like music," Tauxe said. "But somehow when I discovered geology it was obvious to me that I would want to do something that had to do with understanding how the earth works, and I've never questioned it since. I discovered that as a freshman in college. It suits my personality, I spend a lot of time outdoors, I work with my hands, I work with my mind, I get to write. And the story that earth scientists tell is a fascinating one."
Tauxe believes that students considering science as a career should not be frightened by the hard work involved. "I think the number one thing that students have to do is love it. If they don't love it, then it's too difficult. But, if you love it, then it's its own reward. If I didn't love it I would have quit along time ago. I can't imagine doing anything else."