This special episode was recorded in Medellín, Colombia, during an NSF-funded international field course. JSG graduate and current Indiana University Bloomington PhD candidate Jake Gearon is a sedimentologist and geoinformaticist who is advised by Dr. Douglas Edmonds. Jake received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geological sciences from the JSG, along with a creative writing certificate from the College of Liberal Arts. Hear how History Channel documentaries on paleontology and volcanology sparked Jake’s interest in earth sciences as a kid, how his current research uses remote sensing to answer classical questions in sedimentology, and his perspective on the creative opportunities and psychological challenges of the PhD degree.