A new NPC you can encounter in Stardew Valley is Professor Snail. He’s a researcher that is studying the fossils and ancient life that once lived on Ginger Island. However, when you arrive on the island and explore it, the professor is nowhere to be seen. If you want to find him, you’ll have to rescue him and bring him back to his tent so you can work at his museum.
To find Professor Snail, you need to make it through the volcano a little bit and acquire 10 golden walnuts to unlock the island’s west side. This is the area where you find Birdie. Once you unlock this area, additional parrots arrive on the island on the wooden stands. The parrot you want to offer the next set of golden walnuts to is the one right next to Professor Snail’s tent, right before you walk towards the volcano entrance. This parrot will request 10 golden walnuts from you, and giving it the offering calls forth multiple parrots to repair the bridge.
Once you can cross the bridge, a large boulder will have a voice speaking from behind it. You can attempt to break it with a pickaxe or sword, but it will not shatter. You will need to use a bomb, or a mega bomb, to blow it apart. To make sure we could break it, we used a mega bomb, and we recommend you do the same. You can purchase a mega bomb from the vendor inside of the volcano, on the fifth level. They sell them for 1,000 gold pieces.
When the boulder shatters, Professor Snail pops out from behind it, and he returns to his tent. You can visit him at any time to speak with him about his adventures, and he will have a museum you can donate fossils that you find on Ginger Islands.
