When most people go to work, it’s at an office or a store or even a factory.
But when Jenny Eberlein goes to work, it’s at a volcano.
But don’t worry, the 2003 Oxford High School graduate isn’t in danger of being consumed by a rushing lava flow because her volcano erupted at least 900 years ago.
The 24-year-old Eberlein is currently an intern working at the visitors center for the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, located 12 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona.
‘Mostly I talk to people,? she said. ‘I talk to them about the site, what there is to see and do here, and why it’s important to save the site.?
Eberlein is one of more than 4,200 members of the Student Conservation Association (SCA) helping to protect and restore America’s public lands this year.
Headquartered in Charlestown, New Hampshire, the SCA is a nationwide conservation force of college and high school-aged members who serve America’s parks, forests, refuges, seashores and communities.
Eberlein began her yearlong internship at the Sunset Crater Volcano in January.
‘After being here for a few months, I’m really enjoying the (National) Park Service and I would like to continue with the Park Service,? she said. Following her 2007 graduation from Grand Valley State University with a degree in Graphic Design, Eberlein had a change of heart regarding her career path.
Inspired by trips she made to the Great Lakes as a kid and motivated by a college class she took regarding these massive remnants of the last Ice Age, Eberlein decided what she really wanted to do with her life was protect and preserve the environment.
‘I wanted to switch gears,? she said. ‘I wanted to be outdoors and more hands-on in saving the environment.?
So, she signed up on-line for the SCA and ended up working at the volcano site in Arizona.
‘There’s a lot here to be preserved as far as our history and our culture,? Eberlein said. ‘And it’s a great geological specimen, too.?
Sunset Crater Volcano was born in a series of eruptions sometime between 1040 and 1100.
The classic cinder cone volcano is more than a mile wide at its base and stands about 1,000 feet high. The crater measures 400 feet deep and 2,250 feet from rim to rim.
Cinder cones are common in northern Arizona ? there are at least 600 of them there ? and all of them were formed in roughly the same manner.
During each eruption, hot molten lava was ejected into the air from a vent. It cooled, solidified and fell back to earth as ash, cinders, popcorn-sized particles called scoria and larger ‘bombs? as much as three feet in diameter.
The larger, heavier material accumulated around the vent to build a cone-shaped volcano with a crater depression in the center.
Sunset Crater Volcano derives its name from the red, yellow, pink and white mineral deposits that impart a sunset-glow to the crater rim.
Eberlein first visited the volcano back in fall 2007 on a vacation trip with her parents. Her father wanted to go see it.
‘We had no idea what to expect,? she said. ‘We had no idea it was a volcano. We thought it was like an impact crater.?
‘As we drove down the road, Dad and I screamed out ‘Lava!? together upon seeing a lava flow for the first time.?
Working at the national monument has made Eberlein realize just how fragile these cinder cone volcanoes truly are.
Because the formation is made up of ‘tiny pebbles stacked up on top of each other in a mound,? the cinder cone ‘erodes very easily like a sand dune,? she explained.
‘It’s been preserved so well because of the arid climate here and we want to continue that,? Eberlein said. ‘It’s kind of neat to see one that’s been preserved, so that we can learn from it.?
But it wasn’t all climate that’s preserved the Sunset Crater Volcano ? the federal government’s helped a lot, too.
In May 1930, the site was established by President Herbert Hoover as a national monument in order to protect its geological formations. Today, the site consists of 3,040 acres of protected land, crowned by the youngest, least-eroded cinder cone in the San Francisco Volcanic Field.
Eberlein noted that before Hoover’s action, some folks from Hollywood wanted to blow up the volcano for a movie. But fortunately, the community rallied to save it.
Had it not been designated as a national monument, the Sunset Crater Volcano might have met the same fate as an area just outside the protected boundaries.
Adjacent to the monument is a popular off-road vehicle (ORV) area.
‘You can see all the tracks and they’re just eroding away the volcanos,? Eberlein said.
The National Park Service website specifically mentioned this area ? ‘Heavy use causes increase noise levels, visible dust clouds and long-term scarring and erosion to the cinder cones and other geological features that are closely related to the Sunset Crater Volcano eruption.?
Although she’s hoping for a career in the Park Service, if it doesn’t work out, Eberlein is hopeful this internship will yield other opportunities.
‘It’s still opening doors and letting me meet people that will allow me to get into a conservation field,? she said.