By Leah Schwarting

NATCHEZ — When Isabela Island’s Wolf Volcano erupted for the first time in 33 years, the images attracted worldwide interest.

Natchez’s Eleanor “Elly” Smith was also interested, because she was on Isabela during the initial eruption.

Smith was on the other side of the island, well out of the eruption’s path, as part of a class geared toward her accelerated master’s program.

The 22-year-old Louisiana State University graduate decided to take a field course offered by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to go to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Isabela is one of those islands.

Smith’s ultimate goal is to work in oil and gas or mineral exploration, but she decided to take a class that centered on volcanoes.

“For me it was more of personal interest,” Smith said. For three weeks, Smith and other students toured several major volcanoes.

Smith worked on mapping Cotopaxi, a stratovolcano in Ecuador. Cotopaxi is famous for its deadly potential and Smith worked 12,000 feet up the 19,000-foot mountain, struggling against the thin air.

While on the Galapagos Island, Smith explored lava tunnels, tunnels created when the outside of a lava rivers crystalizes but the lava inside continues moving, hollowing it out.

Some extended into the sea and, while snorkeling in one, Smith came face to face with a sea lion.

“I was going, going, going, and he came right here,” Smith said, gesturing with an arm a yard away from her face. “And he was looking at me with those big black eyes and long eyelashes.”

Because of a lack of natural predators on the Galapagos Islands, many of the animals aren’t shy, resulting in Smith’s encounter. After examining her for a while, the sea lion left, leaving Smith with yet another story.

But the one story she didn’t get to tell was what Wolf Volcano looked like when it erupted.

She and other students planned for a plane ride to see the eruption, but it was cancelled after the pilot received a higher offer.

Despite her disappointment, she still had plenty to see. Sierra Negra, another volcano on Isabela, saw its caldera — a large volcanic crater — rise one meter.

When she left the Galapagos Islands and returned to Cotopaxi, the class was surprised to find that the volcano had been showing signs of seismic activity.

Elly is the daughter of Wanda and Ricky Smith and is a graduate of Cathedral High School.