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After earning his Ph.D., Ralph Archuleta went to work for the United States Geological Survey, not really thinking about a career in higher education. When UCSB offered him a faculty position, it intrigued him enough to try it. Although he had never taught a class, Archuleta discovered a love of teaching. "I ask my students at the end of the quarter what they now know that they didn't know before," he says. "That's how I assess the effectiveness of my teaching." The former head of the Institute for Crustal Studies adds, "I'm not there to entertain them, although they should expect me to be enthusiastic about the subject." He is enthusiastic about his specialty, the study of earthquakes, which he finds "extremely stimulating from an intellectual standpoint, and also satisfying because it is directly relevant to society." Though earthquakes can't be predicted, Archuleta says, "we do know what will happen when an earthquake occurs on any given fault line." Go to catalog listing for: Department
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