Huiyun Guo

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This transcript is based on a video-recorded interview deposited at MarE3, JAMSTEC (Yokosuka, Japan).

The transcripts of the research project Oral Histories of Scientific Ocean Drilling are polished representations of oral conversations, and are intended solely for the purpose of preserving and documenting personal accounts and memories. They are not a literary product, and are not intended to exhibit literary qualities.

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Please cite the interview as:

Interview of Huiyun Guo by Beatriz Martinez-Rius on 2024 November 20, D/V Chikyu (Japan). [link]

BMR: Today is November 20 of 2024. I’m onboard Chikyu, expedition 405. I’m Beatriz Martinez-Rius. Can you please introduce yourself?

Huiyun Guo (HG): My name is Huiyun Guo, age 26, institution: California Institute of Technology. I’m currently a postdoc working there, collaborating with professor Zach Ross, working on seismology, machine learning stuff…

What is your current project about?

HG: My current project is using high quality catalog, earthquake catalog, to study some hydrogeology work and how hydrogeology affects seismology; induced seismicity in geothermal fields, or how fluids at the sub-surface can cause earthquakes.

Why hydrogeology is important for earthquake research?

HG: Because, there’s a [?] in the pore pressure, which can change the stress state of the Earth. And a stress perturbation can cause the earthquake, and fluids can cause the pore pressure changes, and pore pressure can cause the stress changes, and then can generate earthquakes. That’s why it’s important. I think previously people only studied the mechanism of, like, how fluid affects earthquakes. But currently, with more and more experiments, or data from geothermal fields, we can now combine the observations with some theoretical analysis to see how this works.

Well, let’s start from the beginning. Where are you from?

HG: Originally, I’m from China. Beijing, China.

BMR: Where are your parents working on something related to science, engineering…?

HG: Not at all. My father is a professor in economics. My mother was a retired worker, working for an airline company.

BMR: And why did you got interested in Earth science, earthquake research…?

HG: Do you want to know the truth? (laughs)

BMR: (laughs) Yes, of course!

HG: The thing in China is like, you have to take the final exam after your high school, and everybody will be ranked. And then, you got accepted by the universities. And when I got accepted from the university, they gave me some choices that I can choose as my major. Like, geophysics or Earth science is just one of them, and the others were… How to say that? Anthropology.

BMR: Social sciences?

HG: Yeah, kind of that. But I think I prefer Earth science better than others, but like, I believed that my first choice would be math. But in Earth science we also need to use math, so is not that bad.

BMR: I’ve known many people who has arrived to Earth sciences through physics or math. Where did you go to university?

HG: Pekin University. I would rank it as the first, the best university in China.

BMR: Wow. Congratulations.

HG: Thank you.

BMR: Was it difficult, to get in?

HG: Very competitive. It’s like… in the year that I entered the university, I think they offered 3,000 positions among 2 million students. So, we have 2 million students at that year, to enter the collage.

BMR: China is so big… That’s crazy. So, why did you decide to move to the U.S?

HG: Currently the academia environment in US is still better than China. How to say… And is also like a wish from my mother, because she wants me to study abroad, and meet new people, and just see a broader world. Just like this. And, like, I don’t hate doing this, so I just followed her suggestion.

BMR: I think it’s a very good thing, to get to see the world. What kind of things surprised you the most from the US? Kind of cultural shocks.

HG: The environment is really different, between the Asian culture and the U.S culture. I think in the US it’s like, there’s no specific, how do I say… Authority, between the professors and the students. I think everyone is the same. Like, they will not treat you as a student, but as their collaborator. Others… let me think. I think people are less anxious or competitive. Because many people I met in the US, they are really interested in this field. But I don’t think there’s always the truth in China, because, like, we need a job. And this is our major. We need to finish this work. It’s not just because of love or interest; this is a job.

BMR: I see… This is something you can also see here in the ship. And when you have a personal interest in your job, you work differently.

HG: Right. The case of many of my classmates in my collage, they quit. And they turn to work in computer science fields, or other companies, economics…

BMR: And you continue here, so something good was here! So, how did you get interested in the specific field of earthquake research and hydrogeology?

HG: Before I enter my PhD university, I ran through my advisor’s papers, and I just found something that I’m really interested in. And this is one of her projects. And when I came to UC Santa Cruz, she just offered. She has a new project about hydrogeology that needs somebody’s work. So, I started to work on that. We went to a geothermal field several times to collect data. And the analysis that I found is really fun. And that’s my most successful project till now.

I felt like, this is something where you have an idea, you have the data, and then you can finish. It’s not very hard to achieve (laughs).

BMR: So you found this topic in which you were interested in, and it’s also something that you can do without being highly stressed.

HG: Yeah, I have other highly stress projects; yeah, I have several projects that I work at the same time, and this one is my most successful one, I like it very much. And I found like, not many people are interested in this, or not many works have been done about this. So, I feel like every step is a big step.

BMR: Nice. How did you know about scientific ocean drilling?

HG: My advisor, again. She attended the JFAST project. I always heard she talking about JFAST, and I didn’t know what it is. Maybe I googled it, and then ask her more about it. And she just introduced me to all of the process of JFAST, and the papers they got, and I read their papers, and I really like this work. It’s super cool. So, I thought that, if I have a chance to get involved in such an expedition, I will like to participate.

BMR: Can I ask you the name of your supervisor?

HG: Emily Brodsky. She is a seismologist.

BMR: Do you think that she has been an influence in finding this pathway?

HG: Yes, yes. She’s very… She has many interesting ideas. Each one of them can make people busy for a while. Because, I think that she is like a pioneer in many fields. In seismology, or making connections with hydrogeology, geomorphology, geodesy…

BMR: So you like this approach to things. Pioneering and doing things that no one has done before.

HG: Yeah.

BMR: I guess you already answered my next question – why did you applied to JTRACK?

HG: Because I’ve learned a lot about JFAST, and I wanted to continue working on this. That’s why I’m here.

BMR: So now the question is, why do you think your application went through the system, went through the reviews, and you were selected?

HG: You want the truth?

BMR: Of course!

HG: Because Patrick Fulton, who is our one of our current co-chiefs, he is the collaborator of my advisor in JFAST. And we actually had many conversations about, like, how can we modify the JFAST project, or make it better? How can we collect more data? Like, I kind of know this project well before the application process. I think that he is the one who chose me to be here.

BMR: Yes, so it’s not because you know someone involved, but because you have been developing a project or an idea that is very valuable for this expedition. They wanted you here because you can contribute with something that is valuable.

HG: Thank you.

BMR: Is this your first oceanographic expedition?

HG: Yes.

BMR: What has impressed you the most about being on Chikyu?

HG: It is a huge, giant vessel; much larger than I expected. I thought that I may be seasick, but I never have. And all of this instruments, or settings, are all new to me. Strange to me. Like – super cool. The derrick… everything. Another thing is that, although Chikyu is like 200 meters long, we need to drill under like seven kilometers below the sea surface. That’s really amazing.

BMR: Right. It’s incredible just to think in the weight that the ship is handling, just the seven kilometers of pipe… it’s amazing.

HG: Yes, and it’s amazing to see how they find the hole!

BMR: Yeah, yeah. So, tell me about something that you’d had to learn during the two or three weeks you’ve been here, in order to do your onboard job.

HG: To be honest, I know very few about structural geology, so everything is new to me. It’s like, in each something party, I hear how they talk about the rocks. That’s all new to me. I learned different kinds of rocks, and the beddings, and many new words to me, like turbidites. And I’m not an experimentalist. So, the instruments I’m currently dealing with, they are all new to me. Everything is new to me (laughs).

BMR: It’s a good opportunity to learn about new things. It’s a very concentrated learning process.

HG: Yes, yes. That’s why I’m tired every day, and sleepy… I’m always sleepy, like in the lab (laughs).

BMR: But you are also always smiley, so that’s good! What is the thing you’ve been enjoying the most? And the thing that has been more challenging?

HG: One thing is that, people are talking about something unfamiliar to me, and in a language that I’m not very good at. So, I found a little bit hard to communicate with others on something that I know nothing about. So, I need to describe them several times about my question, or try very, very carefully to understand their explanation. And… there’s not very much, about other difficult things.

BMR: And what have you enjoyed the most, or valued the most about being onboard?

HG: I met very interesting people. Although our projects are totally different, and maybe we won’t have a collaboration in the future, I’ve seen their interesting works. I find that super cool. Maybe I can extend my own project to their fields. And… I like the side view of the ocean. The food is good. It’s much better than what I make for myself (laughs). And… I feel more calm, here. Like, we don’t need to worry about other stuff, or think about anxious things. Just be here, finish your job, write the report… That’s it.

BMR: I also have this feeling. It’s good sometimes to be disconnected from the daily life. You just need to worry in whatever you are doing.

HG: Yes… because I just had a very sad experience. I still have some problems for my mental health, and I have sleeping problems… But I feel much better here, so I really enjoy the life here.

BMR: It’s good to hear that you feel better. And you still have a bit more than half of the expedition ahead. So, I hope you continue being kind of recovering.

HG: Thank you.

BMR: What do you plan to do after this expedition?

HG: I’m going to use our current measurements, shipboard data, with data that we are going to collect from the observatory settings; use it to do some modeling work to study the hydrogeology of this subduction zone.

BMR: And this is my last question – and the difficult question. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

HG: Yeah, that is a hard question, because I have not decided whether to stay in the US or go back to China for my future career. So, if I stay in the US, I will just keep working, you know? Maybe, find another place to postdocs or faculties, and I will definitely apply for more expedition opportunities, if I have.

But if I go back to China, that depends on funding stuff. But I think China is now developing our own [scientific drilling] vessel. I think it’s as big as Chikyu. So, I think they are getting more and more interested in the IODP projects. So, if I have a chance to be involved in that, I will definitely apply. I think, in ten years… Nothing changes, probably.

BMR: That’s a super good answer because it means that you’re happy with what you’re doing. You like it.

HG: Yeah.

BMR: Is there something you want to add or explain, that I have not asked you?

HG: What’s the objective of this interview?

BMR: The early career interviews, you mean? The idea of doing these interviews with PhDs and postdocs is – of course, I don’t want you to explain me the history of scientific ocean drilling – but it’s essentially to have an idea of why people is applying to these expeditions, how did you learn about scientific ocean drilling… and also, as years go by, kind of track a little bit your relation to scientific ocean drilling, whether you continue or not. The idea came up when I was interviewing the co-chief scientists of this expedition, and from the beginning I realized that they were PhD students when they got involved in JFAST. And they learned so much in that expedition, and built so many relations that have continued to these days, that it makes a career. So, I thought that it’d be great if we could have the 25 year old co-chiefs, explaining their experiences, and now. So, that’s why I started the early career interviews. To have a repository of who is the people who is starting their careers related to scientific ocean drilling.

HG: Thank you. I’m looking forward to more instrument settings. Currently I think that the most popular stuff in seismology is DAS: Distributed Acoustic Sensor. I think it is cheap and is easy to set up. And I found that it would be super cool if they would like to install DAS or DTAS, Distributed Temperature Sensor, along the hole. That would be super cool.

BMR: What do you expect from that? What information would you get?

HG: Waveforms. And use this kind of instrument to find earthquakes, look at earthquakes, and find temperature flow. And then we can not only study the horizontal flow, but also the vertical flow.

BMR: You are sending a time capsule, now.

HG: Yeah. I think they are planning to do this, but not as recent as five years. Maybe un 10 years.

BMR: Well, thank you very much.

HG: Thank you.

Huiyun in Chikyu, on the helideck (left) and beneath the helideck (right). Photos by Beatriz Martinez-Rius, JAMSTEC/IODP.