Terry C Wallace Jr.

We know where you are and what you are doing...
 

I grew up in Los Alamos, and some of my earliest memories were of my father taking me out camping and exploring mines looking for minerals. Northern New Mexico and southern Colorado hold hundreds of wonderful places to find minerals. I felt certain I wanted a career that would let me explore even more geology. However, geology was pretty boring in school in the early 1970s – lots of memorization and descriptions. I really liked physics and mathematics because there was little memorization, and there always was a “right answer.” When it came time to go to college I went to New Mexico Tech and majored in geophysics and mathematics. Frankly, it was a blast. I got a job the first day I walked on campus in Socorro taking care of the seismic stations operated by Tech to monitor earthquake activity in southeastern New Mexico. Analyzing the wiggles on the seismograms was really interesting, and it told us something about geology; the wiggles were caused by earthquakes, which are the groans of an Earth that is alive. I could just see mountains growing and valleys forming with each and every earthquake.
 
After getting my undergraduate degrees, I headed for the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech was the center of the universe as far as seismology was concerned – it was the home of Charles Richter, the inventor of the Richter scale. It was a perfect place to ask “why” and learn the tools of science to unravel the mysteries of geology. Every week there was a seminar about the latest earthquake, whether it be in Japan or Africa. Computers were just coming into widespread use for modeling complex natural phenomena, and I found myself in the wave of discovery. I completed my PhD by specializing in understanding the seismic signals from underground nuclear explosions. This was during the height of the Cold War, and seismology was the only way the U.S. could guess at what the Soviets and Chinese were doing in their weapons programs. It was exciting to be involved in science that made a difference to the nation.
 
After graduation I became a professor at the University of Arizona. I chose the UofA so I could return to a place of wonderful mountains and minerals. I worked on seismic experiments all over the world, but in particular in South America. I deployed seismograph stations and ran experiments for a decade in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Venezuela. I fell in love with the Andes – truly imposing mountains that mark the tremendous geologic upheaval along the west coast of the continent.
 
After 20 years at the UofA I got the chance to come home to Los Alamos and become the Division Leader of Earth and Environmental sciences. It was a very different challenge to lead a large division of talented scientists rather than “doing” science myself. However, it was very rewarding to be involved in overseeing Earth sciences from hydrology to volcanology. In 2006, I became the Principal Associate Director for Science, Technology and Engineering (PADSTE) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The PADSTE is responsible for all basic science programs at LANL, and coordinates the activities of nearly 4600 scientists, technicians, and support staff. My job now includes building support for the work of LANL scientists, which means I interact with members of Congress and the Senate and many other federal agencies and laboratories. Each day brings new challenges and surprises.