Research
I am a geologist by training, and these are some of the research projects I've been involved with.
Mapping the Last Glacial Maximum extent in Yosemite
While working in Yosemite, I contributed to an ongoing project mapping the extent of the most recent glaciation there. Clyde Wahrhaftig began this work over many decades of field work in the Sierra. Greg Stock, the park’s geologist, spent another decade on it, adding modern dating techniques and new field observations to this chapter of Yosemite’s history.
It was a joy to be a part of, and I am thrilled that the map and accompanying pamphlet are now published through the USGS.
Analog modeling of the Greendale Fault (Christchurch, New Zealand)
The Greendale Fault provides an excellent opportunity to learn about strike-slip faulting and surface ruptures. Some faults rupture through jungle, or rugged mountain areas, or have no surface expression; the Greendale Fault cut across flat, grassy paddocks that showed each fracture, and many (formerly) linear markers like fences, roads, and hedgerows revealed the broader field of deformation.
Working with Mark Quigley at the University of Canterbury, my masters research involved creating analog models (small-scale physical models) of the Greendale Fault to see what we could learn about the subsurface conditions that generate this type of deformation. We then considered how that could inform paleoseismic investigations (studies of a fault's history) and hazard assessments of this and other strike-slip faults.
A peer-reviewed paper is in progress. In the meantime, feel free to check out my thesis for more detail.
Eruptive history of Ubehebe Crater (Death Valley, CA)
This study formed the basis of my undergraduate thesis at Columbia University. Working with Brent Goehring and Nicholas Christie-Blick, I used cosmogenic dating to establish the eruptive history of Ubehebe Crater and investigate a link with local climatic variation. Ubehebe is a phreatomagmatic crater, which means that it erupts when magma encounters groundwater beneath the earth's surface. The water flash heats to steam, causing a sudden increase in pressure and a resulting explosion. This is unexpected behavior in one of the driest places on earth, so we set out to investigate the timing of the eruption(s).
We found that the volcano had erupted several times in the last few thousand years to make the crater we see today, including as recently as 800 years ago. We inferred that sufficient groundwater to generate eruptions was present throughout this extended period, and that eruptions were controlled by the presence of magma. Therefore we concluded that the crater could potentially erupt again.
See my resulting publication for more detail. For fun, check out the widely varying press coverage the paper received from Columbia, National Geographic, Wired, NBC, Science Daily, and the Daily Mail.
Mapping of submarine lava flows at Axial Seamount
Axial seamount is an active sea floor volcano, located on the Juan de Fuca Ridge spreading center (a divergent plate boundary) off the coast of Oregon. Working as an undergraduate researcher with Bill Chadwick of Oregon State University and NOAA (my work was funded by the NOAA Hollings Scholarship), I used sonar, high-resolution bathymetry, and ROV dive video to map the different morphologies of lava flows from a 1998 eruption and make inferences about eruptive behavior. Conclusions from my work are summarized in this publication.
Continuing (very cool!) research on a 2011 eruption has used uplift/inflation rates to measure magma recharge, with the goal of predicting eruptive activity.
To learn more or find current publications, see NOAA's page on Axial Seamount.