We can now explore things that are outside of the solar system right here on Earth was the main premise for Dr. Jani Radebaugh’s forum talk at BYU-Idaho Thursday.
Dr. Radebaugh is a professor of geological sciences at Brigham Young University and she has made it a focus in her work and research to explore the Earth in order to understand more about our solar system.
She has been to many places in the world because everytime an opportunity is presented before her she tries to take it. One opportunity that stands out in her mind was the opportunity to go to Antarctica and look for meteorites.
“I had had other friends do that before me in my program and I was kind of toying with the idea, and I thought it would be pretty neat, but when it came down to it I was like, ‘But it’s going to be cold,’” Dr. Radebaugh said. “But I had talked to my friend who had gone, and she told me that I absolutely had to go, and I can’t imagine having missed out on that.”
Dr. Radebaugh became a professor by accident, she says. Her father was a professor and she knew about the long hours that come with the job. She also knew about the opportunities that come with it.
“When I finished my degree at the University of Arizona, I was offered a job by BYU to be a professor of geology, but I had wanted to work for NASA,” Dr. Radebaugh said. “But the more I heard about the job, the more I realized I was able to do my own research and I was able to be involved in missions and choose which research I can do.”
Dr. Radebaugh wants to continue exploring and learning more about the solar system. She will continue to research as well as teach at BYU. Partially because it's her job and partially because it's her main passion.
“If there’s a way for me to get to the farthest corner of the Earth, then I’m going to figure out how to do it,” Dr. Radebaugh said.