PhD DAY IN THE LIFE | lab work at UArizona

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. Put simply, I study how mountains are created. This video records a day in the life of a physical scientist. I share some science, demonstrate a few steps of how we separate dense accessory minerals for geo/thermochronology, and show a little of the action that fills the gaps during a normal day. Please reach out with any geology-related questions and I hope you enjoy the video. My primary goal here is to communicate the beautiful (albeit difficult) process of obtaining a PhD in physical sciences.

My work is part of an interdisciplinary effort to understand the geologic evolution of the Andean mountain belt (TANGO; the “Trans ANdean Great Orogeny”). Funding for this research is provided by the Frontier Research in Earth Sciences (FRES) program and the National Science Foundation (NSF). For more information on the broader work being conducted, see the link below:
https://news.arizona.edu/story/uarizo...

Chapters:
0:00 Walking to work
2:00 Morning reading
5:45 Intro to density separation
10:35 Visiting Chance & Rob
12:15 Mineral separation continued
13:56 Cosmochronology class
16:25 Wrapping up in lab
19:19 Banquet dinner
20:59 Goodbye

If you would like to support my science communication efforts, I have a Patreon where I share my favorite films, music, books, podcasts, and more:   / cadenhowlett  . There is an accumulating number of Patron-only YouTube videos on the platform. Any contribution on Patreon goes directly back into this platform.

Follow Caden:
Instagram:   / cadenhowlett  
Facebook:   / cadenjhowlett  
Twitter:   / cadenhowlett  

Music:
I Be In The Lab—G-Eazy
Smack yo—Beltran
The Scoop on Heaven—Mac Miller

#geology #science #nature #vlog #phd #students