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Travis Heggie - Answering the Call of the Wild
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“Eruption duty is an exciting job where I am always busy applying my geographic skills and constantly being intellectually stimulated,” says Heggie, “Sometimes, I will hike out and monitor the surface lava flows, take lava samples, measure the thickness of the crust on a lava tube, but most of the time, I handle first aid, search and rescue.” The biggest problem Heggie faces at the park is simple –people. “I try to prevent accidents before they happen,” says Heggie, “You wouldn't believe the foolish things that people do and say.” Heggie's advice for anyone visiting the park , “If you ever visit the eruption site at the end of Chain of Craters Road -- ALWAYS LOOK UPHILL AND BE AWARE OF WHERE THE LAVA IS!” says Heggie. “Being able to observe nature and humans interacting, watching how the flora and fauna flourish, and learning how people from different cultures respond to the park is the best and most attractive part of this job for me,” says Heggie, “I also enjoy interpreting every day the natural science of the area for the visitors.” Heggie feels that there is no substitute for the education and experience a geographer gains from working in the field. “Textbooks could never teach everything I have seen and I want to share my knowledge,” says Heggie, “I have found that my geography background has helped me to share my knowledge teaching on the eruption site.” “When I am not doing a search and rescue, I get to answer all the questions that people ask me, and I view this part of the job as a teaching opportunity -- I love to teach,” says Heggie, “To know me is to know that I view one of my roles in life as an educator and one day as a professor,” says Heggie, “As a geographer, I can teach them anything. “ “To me teaching is the complete application of my geography background, but it also goes to prove that there is a need for geographers in the work place,” says Heggie, “If adequately educated, we geographers have the ability to 'complete the big picture' and link all the separate disciplines together in an organized manner which is important in problem solving.” Heggie feels that there is a lot of potential for geographers in the National Park Service especially in the research, protection, and interpretive divisions. “There is definitely room for growth and potential,” says Heggie, “When I interviewed for my job I was the only geographer.” After Heggie was hired, his boss told him that the reason he was chosen was because he could describe in great detail the biogeography, geomorphology (including coastal geomorphology), climatology, and cultural setting of both the park and the entire island. Heggie thinks that geographers have a real advantage because they are more encompassing and holistic in their study and advises students to take a healthy dose of physical, human, and technical geography courses, and to remember that there are jobs out there, and most of all to go out and see the world. “I spent two years in Korea with the Mormon Church, stayed another two years working in South Korea, I spent time in New Zealand and Thailand while the rest of the Pacific Ocean was my playground.” says Heggie, “It was difficult to adjust at first but, the trip really opened my mind to another part of the world.” Heggie has already had many adventures before going to graduate school but Heggie says his explorations won't end after graduate school. “I tell people there are three things that I want out of geography,” says Heggie, “ The teaching, the traveling, and the research.” “I want to go everywhere,” he continues, “I believe that geographers being geographers naturally have this instinct as it is what sets us apart from other academia -- I call it the 'call of the wild.” Travis Heggie burns with the kind of curiosity that has driven explorers for centuries and his passion for his work makes a violent volcanic eruption look tame. |
