Meet Cal Scientists: The Process of Science

Read on as these four Cal scientists talk about what the process of science means to them!

• Name: Katherine Brakora
• Position: Graduate Student
• Department: Department of Integrative Biology
• Research: I get to travel around the world to study fascinating animals in their natural habitats, and to work behind-the-scenes in great museums. And I do this to figure out the big picture - how biological systems work across many different levels through deep time. It doesn't get much better than that!

• Name: Mark Goodwin
• Position: Assistant Director
• Department: UC Museum of Paleontology
• Research: I like participating in discoveries in the field and testing hypotheses in the lab and with UC Museum of Paleontology collections. Triceratops have been known to science for over 100 years, and we're still discovering new details on how they grew their distinctive horns and massive skulls that measure over 9 ft. long! The largest of any terrestial animal ever to walk on the planet!

• Name: Miguel Daal
• Position: Graduate Student
• Department: Physics
• Research: What I like best is having unlimited license to be creative in solving problems and to discover. The end result of my work is usually just as exciting as the journey to reach it. This is another great aspect of my work.

• Name: Kevin Mayeda
• Position: Seismologist
• Department: Berkeley Seismological Lab
• Research: I enjoy seismology because there are so many things that we don't fully understand about the Earth's structure and the physics of earthquakes. Most research studies that seismologists embark upon often leads to new information that nobody had uncovered before. For me, I enjoy research that has direct societal applications such as earthquake hazard, explosion monitoring for nuclear test ban treaties, and public outreach to schools and community organizations. Finally, my field affords the opportunity to travel to many interesting places around the world to collect data, give talks at seismology meetings, and collaborate with foreign scientists. The best part is that my family often tags along too!