Next Stop: Connecticut (USA) - Ellen Thomas and Joop Varekamp

What is your fondest memory of your time at Utrecht University?

"That we met," Ellen and Joop say in unison. "We met during a geochemistry class in 1968", Joop explains. They became a couple a year later during their freshman fieldwork in the sun-drenched hills of Provence. "Romance in Provence", says Joop. Ellen adds: "I also have very fond memories of the freedom of student life. I’m from Hengelo, and Joop is from Eindhoven. Hengelo, in particular, was much more of 'the provinces' back then than it is now. I still remember the neon signs on the Neude very clearly when I’d be coming back to Utrecht from home. But also the fact that, intellectually speaking, you learned so many new things." Johan recalls another memorable moment: "During our orientation week in ’68, we were on our way to the Dom for a lecture for new students. Along the way, we ran into large groups who were loudly protesting the tuition fees. That made an impression."

You have both been living in the US for over forty years now. How did you end up there?

"Oh, that was because of an advertisement in the Geotimes – one of the magazines where you could find jobs for geologists," says Joop. "Arizona State University was looking for a postdoctoral researcher who knew something about geothermal energy. I had written a short article about it; I still had to finish my dissertation at that time. Nevertheless, shortly afterwards we left for the US. That was in 1979, after we had both received our doctorates on the same Monday afternoon." 

Ellen continues: "After all those years, we found things getting a bit stifling in Utrecht with always the same professors and ideas. Other universities in the Netherlands were rather seen as competitors, and mutual contact between scientists was not always encouraged. On top of that, it was considerably harder for a woman to find a job in those days. So we had agreed: whoever finds a job first takes it. And so I just went along with Joop. The professor who had hired him in the US understood the situation and also helped me find a job. Thanks to my work with microfossils, I was already proficient with an electron microscope, and that is how I ended up working with air pollution particles for a few years."

You have both built successful careers, while also raising two children and conducting fieldwork in the most remote places in the world. How did you manage that?

"Look, when we were young, we were full of energy. Finding a job for both of us in our field at the same location wasn't easy, though. We would have loved a job-sharing arrangement, but that only succeeded in 2015, towards the end of our careers. In any case, we decided that 'come hell or high water' we would find a solution and would stay together for the rest of our lives." And so it happened. When a volcano erupted in Mexico in 1982, Joop was there the very next day to conduct research. In 1984, in collaboration with the VU, the UU, and the UvA, he led the volcanology section of the major Dutch Snellius II expedition to Indonesia. When their son, the eldest of the two children, was six months old, Ellen was able to join a research expedition to Antarctica. "Go ahead," Joop said at the time, and she did. He managed just fine with the baby. 

And when she got a job at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, he took a sabbatical there. "But honestly," says Joop, "Ellen made the biggest career sacrifices. Commuting 100 miles between Middletown and Columbia University (New York), where she held an interesting research position, proved impossible with children. I already had a job as a professor at Wesleyan University here in Connecticut. Then she worked for a while in a science museum for children." Ellen: "For an international research program conducting deep-sea drilling (IODP), I was able to write my own research proposals and shape my own role. This allowed me to work part-time for a while, and I eventually secured a research position at Yale University in Connecticut."

Joop would like to add something: "Ellen was often told that geology is not a field for women. Despite all the opposition, she still managed to become one of the most highly regarded micropaleontologists internationally, and she was awarded important prizes such as the Maurice Ewing Medal." He is not only proud of her, but he also hopes that young female Geology/Earth Sciences students will be inspired by it.

What helped you when making important decisions?

"Many students think that you can largely plan your life. But the biggest part is precisely what you cannot plan," says Ellen. "There are things you can’t control; they just happen. Appreciate that. Try to have the mental flexibility to go along with whatever presents itself. Our lives are held together by serendipity. Within science, too, a great many different subjects crossed our path." Joop wholeheartedly agrees. "My advice: if a good opportunity presents itself, don't think twice about it, just do it! Wesleyan University wasn't a conscious choice either, but ultimately I remained a professor there for 38 years with great pleasure. And, don’t be shy to share your preferences. Because we did exactly that, for instance, Ellen and I were able to teach American students at a university in Kyoto (Japan) as part of a dual fellowship,. Such an experience enriches your life." And Joop was the director of an academic program in Bologna, where they lived for six months.

What is your life like now?

"We retired in 2021, after the pandemic, but have continued to work as curators at the Wesleyan Natural History Museum, and Ellen also as a research professor at Yale. We now live in an (by US standards) old house in the woods along the Connecticut River, next to a 'fake Norman castle'; when there is a thunderstorm, the power goes out every now and then. Our son builds bicycles in New York and our daughter lives in the wilderness of Vermont, close to the Canadian border. We recently gave a talk at an Utrecht University alumni event in New York, and in October we are going to do that again in Boston."