March 17, 2012

Only a Rock Scientist

Posted by Evelyn Mervine

Doing some rock science in Oman, January 2009.

I defend my PhD thesis in just under a month. I’m super nervous, particularly about the questions I’ll receive after my defense. However, I’ve come up with the ideal way to respond to difficult questions.

Scary Committee Member: Can you please draw all three uranium-series decay chains, with all of the decay constants, on the board and then comment on how they relate to life, the universe, and everything?

Me: What do I look like, a rocket scientist? I’m only a rock scientist.

I think this plan is foolproof*.

Okay, back to the thesis preparations now.

 

 

*Don’t worry, I won’t actually answer questions this way. I just wanted to share my new geology joke. Next time someone asks you a difficult science question, feel free to inform them that you are “not a rocket scientist, only a rock scientist.”