Student Spotlight

Student spotlight: Maggie Holahan

B.S. ’17, Geological Sciences

I realized I wanted to study geology after taking a class my freshman year at the University of Vermont. I then transferred to IU in 2014 at the beginning of my sophomore year as a Geology major. I graduated in May 2017.

I am currently in the middle of a double gap year, aiming to fill the time with geoscience internships, jobs, and outdoor adventuring. I hope to begin graduate school in the Fall of 2019. I was a National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) intern with the US Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory, where I worked as a field and lab assistant focused on deciphering the history of volcanism of Glacier Peak and Mt. Shasta. I also assisted with the maintenance and repair of remote volcanic monitoring stations at many other cascade volcanoes including: Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and Newberry Volcano. This summer, I plan to be an Associate Instructor for the IU course G429: Field Geology in the Rocky Mountains.

Maggie Holahan smiling at the camera from atop a rock formation with a mountain behind her — Maggie Holahan in front of Mount St. Helens at a geophysical monitoring station on Coldwater Peak.

What drew you into the Earth Science major?

I signed up to take an introductory geology class my first semester of freshman year (while I was at the University of Vermont) and chose to do so in part because I never had any previous experience with geology or the earth sciences as a class subject. This curiosity of the “unknown” was also paired with the fact that I had recently taken up rock climbing and was spending time outside on fascinating geologic formations that I wished to know more about. After my first geology class I was hooked! I loved that all my Earth Science classes at IU included ways to get hands-on experience with what we were learning in the classroom in the form of field trips, applied projects, and scientific conferences/meetings.

What topics were you most excited to learn about in Earth Sciences classes?

I had the great opportunity to take a wide range of earth science courses and discovered that some of the most interesting topics to me were mineralogy, geological hazards, structural geology and geomorphology.

What has been the most interesting/influential experience you have had as a major?

One of the most influential experiences I had as a major was taking the course G429: Field Geology in the Rocky Mountains at the Judson Mead Geologic Field Station in Montana. This course challenged me both mentally and physically, but allowed me to develop vital problem solving and time management skills. I gained a better understanding for the scale of morphologically changing systems through time, something I believe you can only achieve by stepping outside of the classroom and experiencing the geology first hand. By taking this course, I ultimately grew to be a more confident geologist and discovered a passion for working hands-on in the field.

What advice would you give to new students in the major?

I would highly recommend joining a geoscience-based club, it helps connect you to other students in the major, including upperclassmen, who can act as great mentors. Some of the clubs I was involved with include GeoClub and Sigma Gamma Epsilon. Also, take advantage of learning key research tools such as ArcGIS, Python, or other modeling programs.

Maggie Holahan posing for the camera with a lake, forest, and mountains in the background — Maggie at geophysical monitoring station near Paulina Lake, OR, in the Newberry Caldera

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Student Spotlight