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Volcano Group

The Volcano Group is currently looking for graduate students to participate in funded projects as research assistants!

Volcanology is an exciting and broad area of research at USF. The department currently volcanologist (Dr. Chuck Connor), a geodynamicists (Dr. Rocco Malservisi) a geodesist (Dr. Timothy Dixon), a near-surface geophysicist (Dr. Sarah Kruse), and an igneous petrologist and geochemist (Dr. Jeff Ryan). This makes USF one of the largest departments in the USA for volcanology. Currently six PhD students and three M.S. students are part of the volcano group. Volcanology students at USF can expect to do field work on volcanoes, learn about a plethora of lab and numerical methods for studying volcanic processes, and attend international meetings (the group went to meetings in San Francisco, Japan, Australia, and Iceland in the past few years).

San Cristobal, Nicaragua, is one place we work

Some of the current graduate student projects in the Volcano Group include:

  • John O'Brien (PhD student): Analysis of seismic and time-transient gravity data from Tarawera volcano, New Zealand
  • Koji Kiyosugi (PhD student): Modeling long-term volcanic hazards in Japan as part of the international VOGRIPA project
  • Armando Saballos (PhD student): Volcanic hazards at Concepcion volcano, Nicaragua
  • Heather Lehto (PhD candidate): Changes in shallow seismicity and stress at Mt. St. Helens, Washington

Current postdoctoral fellows in the Volcano Group include:

  • Sylvain Charbonnier (Ph.D., Keele University) - Study of pyroclastic flows and lahars

The Department of Geology operates a Direct Current Plasma Emission Spectrometer for the chemical analysis of whole rocks, and is a part of a consortium using an Electron Microprobe for microanalysis of rocks and minerals, both of which are used in research by the volcano group. The Department of Geology also has a large number of geophysical instruments, including broadband seismometers, a gravimeter, magnetometers, a ground-penetrating radar system, differential GPS, and gas flux meters, all of which are used by volcano group members to study active volcanoes around the world.

For more information about the Volcano Group, especially multi-disciplinary projects visit the Volcano Group Website. Contact any of the folowing faculty about research opportunities for graduate students:
Chuck Connor
Tim Dixon
Rocco Malservisi
Jeff Ryan
Sarah Kruse