Aloha Hawai'i : one Geography student's professional placement adventure

Shannon Bell on the North Shore

In June 2015, I undertook a professional placement module with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) centre in Hawaii. NOAA is a world leading organisation in research, with their scientific research ranging from space exploration to the ocean depths.

I applied for work experience in the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC) and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) for the four weeks of June. Getting to experience a different culture as well as a different working environment gave me excitement and the willingness to engage in activities with confidence.

While volunteering, I was involved in a variety of activities from office based duties to interacting with the indigenous Hawaiians. All the activities were engaged around tsunami hazards, threats and causes. I was involved in the North Shore Ocean Fest, which took place on a classic Hawaiian style beach location. The North Shore Ocean Fest celebrates World Ocean Day every year, so what a better way to disperse and engage with both adults and children on the topic of tsunamis. This day allowed for interactions but also the giving of important information that could save lives in the future.

Stall at the North Shore Ocean Fest

Shannon working on the Ocean Fest Stall

ITIC had a tsunami wave tank in which you could stimulate both tsunami waves and wind waves to display the difference. Movies were made of tsunamis that had struck Hawaii in the past to be used in teaching school science camps the causes of tsunamis. I was also involved in the preparation and shipping of the newest ITIC book to the United Nations Conference held in Paris in July 2015.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is where the monitoring of sea level change and seismic waves takes place, using a network of monitoring devices across the Pacific. PTWC then makes a scientific decision on whether a warning or an alert should be sent out to the Pacific Nations. Pagers would sound if a magnitude 7+ earthquake had occurred, alerting the staff, which occurred twice during my time there. I got to experience and work with some of the equipment sending out practise tsunami false warnings.

Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre Monitoring Station

The whole experience was amazing, building relationships with staff members and being part of a different culture made the experience worthwhile. The Hawaiians work early hours and tend to finish early afternoon fitting in with the time zone of the West coast of North America but also allows for a lot of leisure time, including seeing turtles, snorkelling and obviously the sport Hawaii is famous for… the surfing! The Hawaiians are the friendliest people you’ll ever meet, and I would do the whole experience again!

Shannon Bell

Third year student in BSc (hons) Geography.

Publication date: 18 January 2016