Research scientists engage in a wide variety of activities as they pursue their careers.
Their working environments are usually rather casual, though some of their time, such as when giving presentations at scientific meetings, may be spent more formally. The photos on these two pages provide glimpses of scientists in settings that range from office to classroom to research vessel to soccer field. His particular interest is understanding Earth history from magnetic signals recorded by cooling volcanic material that erupts at the boundaries of our planet's great crustal plates. He often uses submersibles to carry his instruments, and he is on the dive records of the French submersible Nautile, Japan's Shinkai 6500, and the WHOI-operated US Alvin. He also uses research vessels to tow magnetometers and other instruments for his investigations.