What do Antarctica, Nepal, South Korea, and rural NE Pennsylvania all have in common? They’re all places where Doug Goetz of UC Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics has done fieldwork. From releasing balloons next to an active Air Force base and being followed by helicopters, to close calls with a milk truck turned mobile lab and being extracted from a foreign country after an earthquake, we talked with Doug about why fieldwork is a crucial, and perhaps misunderstood, part of the scientific endeavor.

This episode was produced Shane M Hanlon and mixed by Collin Warren. Artwork by Jace Steiner.