I’m Theron Sowers.
I’m a senior geology major at California
State University Sacramento.
So, what got me interested in geoscience was
a book.
It was all about how rocks are the storytellers
of the Earth and there’s nothing I love
more than storytelling.
I was hooked. I changed my major to geology the next day.
For my senior thesis, basically I’m collecting
a bunch of water samples and then analyzing
them to figure out how much heavy oxygen versus
light oxygen they have.
And this should tell us something about how
tall the Sierra Nevada mountain range was
in the past because we can apply these data
to some models that will give us elevations
based on isotope values.
Most of high school was just trying to survive
for me.
I grew up in a really small town where it
wasn’t okay to be gay or a minority or anything
that was different.
So, I hid a lot of who I was through high
school.
I found a lot of support and refuge in the
foreign language department.
Really, in order to be able to do anything
like sports or extracurriculars, I had to
pay for it myself.
My family had different plans for me and so,
I was pushed into marriage at 18 and divorced
by 21 after I moved out of my small town.
Struggled for a little while after the divorce.
Got back on my feet and started taking classes
at a community college.
Community college was rough because it was
just me and my wife and there weren’t other geologists.
But then as soon as I transferred to the four-year,
it really turned around everything.
My entire path has changed direction since
I’ve been there.
I think one of the most useful skills for
geology, and really science in general, is
being able to think outside of the box and
also integrate a lot of different knowledge.
You’ll look at something through the lens
of tectonics or through the lens of geochemistry,
and that may not tell the entire story.
So, it’s really important to be creative
enough to think about the different lenses
you can be looking at different problems with.
I think the biggest advice I have for people
just starting college is to make sure you
take advantage of all of the kind of outside
extracurricular activities that you’re interested in.
And take classes that aren’t just required,
but that interest you, especially because
that’s how you’re going to figure out
what you’re passionate about.
Next step for me is probably a PhD and after
that, I’d love to teach at an undergraduate
university and kind of help the next generation
of geologists through, especially because I
think I can relate to people in ways that
a lot of instructors can’t.
Scientists aren’t all geniuses and I think
that’s a really important thing to take away.
You know, it’s not about feeling like the
smartest person in the room.
It’s about being creative and being curious
enough to ask questions and try to answer them.
