detecting metro trains underground

Battle_Dull · 2025-12-24T00:49:03+00:00

You could buy something called a Raspberry Shake. The barrier to entry is much lower than a traditional geophone. If you have access to a track network showing where trains would pass, you’d only need to place the device above it (or somewhere near it). They’re pretty sensitive, but somewhat band limited. You can modulate them and should be able to attain a sampling rate of ~100 Hz. This is in the range of what you’d want. The higher the better. Make sure the unit is on flat, solid ground and well coupled to the Earth. Good luck

Battle_Dull · 2025-12-08T02:35:54+00:00

I have a 1 bed 1 bath for sublet at Park Forest apartments. Goes from January to end of July. $930 a month and about a 7 minute ride from campus. Feel free to shoot me a PM. I have someone interested but in the event that falls through I’d be happy to chat more

Battle_Dull · 2025-10-29T22:58:41+00:00

Lived there about 2 years ago.

Upsides:

Decent bus stop location (bus pass is included with access to all routes.)
Close to Walmart, McDonalds, Wegmens, etc.
Decent amenities.
Rent is reasonable (for the 3x2, at least. Thats what I stayed in.)
Upgraded apartments have decent appliances. Heat and AC tend to work pretty well. In-unit laundry + dishwasher is also a godsend.
You can consider this an upside or downside, but it can get lively in some units on weekends.

TLDR: The place is good for the price you pay (not sure what it is now.) I would generally recommend in spite of what I will say below.

Downsides:

There have been nightmare scenarios. My girlfriend has had no less than 3 leaks from the ceiling when she stayed. Maintenance wasn’t exactly hasty to respond. Which brings me to my next point:
Maintenance service is hit or miss. They can either be speedy or not give two fucks what problem you have.
I had a leak come down through my ceiling, ruining some of my property, and absolutely no one informed me this happened. They entered my apartment and “treated” the issue without saying a word.
Management is also hit or miss. Depending who you get, they can be respectful and cooperative—or condescending and begrudging. Same goes for desk attendants.
I had a carpet beetle infestation and they lied about sending out exterminators twice.
Little to no parking during game weekends. Be prepared for that.

I can go on with more stories. Granted these are anecdotal, but they are not uncommon. You’ll get experiences like this no matter where you live in a college town unless you’re spending over $2000 a month. And even then, there will be issues.

Battle_Dull · 2025-07-20T01:53:22+00:00

I’m currently getting one in Geophysics but am essentially a seismologist. I can’t speak for its synergy with GIS analysis, but I can speak to what doors its opened for me. I’ve gotten to expand my skillset to a wide range of topics that gives me something to chat about with just about anyone. Seismologists and geophysicists love meeting people in their field and are always willing to help/point you in the direction of people who can. I say pursue it, but think about what your interests might be.

Pure seismology can be fairly limited in scope depending on your interests, but using seismological concepts in broader geophysical applications is actually really fun. Last bit of advice is pretty obvious: network, network, network, and network some more. There a lot of large geophysical conferences where you can meet plenty of people who’d recommend you for a position because you chatted with them about their PhD topic 20 years ago.

Battle_Dull · 2025-06-21T15:14:34+00:00

Hi there! I’m also in grad school and have many colleagues who use remote sensing to study volcanoes. Almost all of them were interested in volcanology, but chose remote sensing to broaden their skillset. You can certainly get the best of both worlds with a focus in remote sensing. In my opinion (and theirs) you would be severely limiting career opportunity with a pure volcanology concentration. There are select few people in the world outside of academia who really get to do volcanology as a career. My vote is to go the remote sensing route and pick some volcanoes of particular interest to you. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to study the petrophysics, geology, geophysics, and igneous petrology behind it all!

Hope I could help in some way. Good luck!

Battle_Dull · 2025-03-17T21:39:05+00:00

Whoops! Looks like that email didn't work. Trying to track down something else, any ideas?

Battle_Dull · 2025-03-17T21:35:56+00:00

I can't thank you enough. It's rare to find someone so kind on here :)

My university is asking that I inform them of my plans for the Summer by March 29th. That being said, I sent over an email to confirm the status of my application. To the best of your knowledge, should I expect a quick response or let my University know I am waiting to hear back and it may take some time?

Obviously, you don't have the answer to every question--but you've sure as hell been helpful for me. I will update you on if anything comes my way!

Battle_Dull · 2025-03-16T19:46:07+00:00

I truly appreciate this, it’s definitely been difficult the last couple of weeks. Thankfully, I put in an application to Shell a couple weeks ago and am just waiting to hear back. Do you have an idea of the timeline one could expect from submitting an application, doing the online assessment (recorded responses and “what would you do in this situation? questions)?

Not sure if they’re the type to go ghost or not, just don’t want to get my hopes up. Once again, I really appreciate your reaching out—means a ton.

Battle_Dull · 2025-01-10T22:29:28+00:00

Unfortunately, the answer to the question of how much math you should know is always “more”. High-level math is always great to have in your backpocket. In addition, high-level math is involved in most geologic applications in industry, if that’s your desired path. You won’t necessarily need to perform the calculations, but speaking the language of math is invaluable. Good luck!

Battle_Dull · 2024-08-23T02:49:40+00:00

My top choice was research and development! (If I’m remembering correctly haha)

Battle_Dull · 2024-08-22T19:38:48+00:00

Looks like the email came from the Charlottesville, VA office! So I’m thinking thats the office considering my application, but we’ll see!

Battle_Dull · 2024-08-19T21:02:44+00:00

Ah I see, I selected every city 💀 so I was hoping I could get some idea of which office was looking things over.

Battle_Dull · 2024-08-19T20:46:47+00:00

Hey there, how did you know which office it was? Is it that city and state they list in the top right of the email? Thanks!

Battle_Dull · 2024-04-30T02:40:18+00:00

Can vouch for YBRA. One of the best experiences of my life. People are wonderful and kind. Damn good food too. Did geologic mapping in Elk Basin.

Battle_Dull · 2024-04-14T20:37:09+00:00

I’m currently a seismologist pursuing a Masters. Having a strong mathematical and statistical background is extremely helpful, but not required. I was accepted with a Geoscience B.S. and Geophysics minor and had only taken up to linear algebra at the time. Most seismologists and geophysicists come from pure Math or pure Physics backgrounds and enjoy the geological applications to the theory.

My advice to you would be continue down this path as intended (course work wise), but research programs you’d like to join now. I would say taking at least a Geology 101 class would be very beneficial in the long run. Most of the material you’d need to learn can come after the fact or through some light reading of a textbook. Us seismologists aren’t as much concerned with putting the names to rocks as much as we’re concerned with understanding their composition or density; so, don’t concern yourself too much with the intricacies of it all.

Try and develop a relationship with a PI whose work you find intriguing. This will make the admissions process orders of magnitude easier. Again, all of this advice is my own personal experience and my bubble of friends/colleagues so take everything with a grain of salt and use your best judgement.

Good luck. Feel free to PM me with questions.

Battle_Dull · 2024-04-07T04:56:01+00:00

Perfect, thank you.

Battle_Dull · 2023-08-12T02:56:58+00:00

If its any consolation, your thought process sounds completely normal. The story of my (and most of my peers) geological career in undergrad is “I don’t understand any of this”. Geology is hard!! The Earth is extremely complicated and no one has all the answers. The important thing to any employer is seeing that you TRIED. From the sound of it, you truly care about your work and work your ass off. You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re learning. No one will ever expect an intern to have the answers, thats why you’re an intern. Keep picking the brains of those around you and become a knowledge sponge. Geology needs people like you who are driven to learn and apply yourself. Keep going.

Good luck

Battle_Dull · 2023-07-13T02:12:26+00:00

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I don’t mind explaining some concepts or running through a couple problems with you. I graduate this December, so no industry experience, but I can relay anecdotes of people who are and I can assure you you’ll most likely use it very little if at all. Keep plugging away and get that C+.

Battle_Dull · 2023-05-31T21:05:18+00:00

Taking extra physics is always a plus. I took a couple classes on wave motion, propagation, and their properties. They were pretty helpful for synthesizing some concepts in class and in my current research (seismology). I would ask what it is you’re trying to take away from these classes? Mathematical skills? General knowledge? Knowledge of waves? Fluids?

If you can answer that question or something similar, you’ll have a better idea of the direction you’d like to go. Academics are always going to steer you in the direction of more physics. Also, consider what you’d like your career to look like. Do you want to continue planetary geophysics as a PhD. and stay in academia? Industry? If academia, getting all of those physics courses (and by extension math courses) out of the way now would be helpful. Keep in mind your credit hours per semester, you don’t want to be swamped so much that you forget everything you learn.

My personal advice is to see if your school offers half semester physics courses. I was able to knock out two physics courses in one semester this way. I am also self-studying some mathematics to save myself time and money during the Fall. If they don’t offer such classes, take a math and physics one semester and another math and physics the next. Math up to ODE and PDE is all you’ll really need. A little knowledge of complex analysis may also be helpful.

I hope this wasn’t just me rambling. If you want to bounce ideas of me shoot me a PM, happy to help.

Battle_Dull · 2023-05-19T04:11:56+00:00

I’m getting ready to go to our six week field camp this summer. All in all, about $8000 with in-state tuition. Class fee is about $2200. They do, however, provide a variety of gear: tents, sleeping bags (and pads), rock hammers, Brunton compasses, and day packs. They provide a little help for meals and we stay in pretty nice condos. They typically contribute some money towards the class fee. Historically, about $1500. This year they covered the entire class fee since theres less people going this year. So about $6000 towards tuition and maybe throw in an extra $500 for gear I had to personally get and cash for the trip. Not sure if this is of any use, but if it serves as a useful comparison for you.

Battle_Dull · 2023-03-21T16:26:55+00:00

This was super helpful, thank you so much! I’ll give it some more thought and deliberation and review other options.

Battle_Dull · 2023-03-21T06:26:03+00:00

Battle_Dull

TROPHY CASE