Volcano Studies

The Volcanology group at UB is a thriving group currently composed of 6 faculty, 2 postdoctoral researchers, and typically 20 to 30 graduate students. The group's efforts are dedicated to fundamental research and teaching in all aspects of physical volcanology, with ongoing expansion into the realms of petrology and geochemistry. The group aims to provide resources that will promote the training of the next generation of volcanologists by developing the use of a broad foundation of approaches including field-based and remote sensing-based studies of volcanic deposits and landforms, remote sensing and geophysical volcano monitoring tools, petrological and geochemical approaches, analog experiments, and modeling and simulation tools. Our group's recently-expanded facilities include four new laboratories dedicated to fluid dynamics, remote sensing, computational modeling and sedimentology/sample preparation.

Although the interests across our group are diverse, we share a broad focus on volcanic hazards, and, as such, play a leading role in the university-wide Center for Geohazards Studies ( http://www.geohazards.buffalo.edu/ ). The center has a strong focus on cross-disciplinary and applied approaches related to mitigation of risk associated with a broad array of natural hazards. The volcanology group at UB is also committed to a major community-wide cyber infrastructure initiative called VHub ( http://vhub.org/ ), which promotes collaborative volcano research and risk mitigation. In addition, the group is spearheading the development of a unique facility for large-scale experiments on volcanic processes that will be available for use by the international volcanology and Geohazards community.

Our group's most prominent research themes, on which there is substantial overlap between individual researchers, are the following:

• Emplacement of volcanic flows (including field, experimental and computational studies related to emplacement of debris avalanches, pyroclastic flows and debris flows).
• Eruption column dynamics (including eruption column modeling and tephrachronology)
• Basaltic volcanism (including conduit processes, magmatic plumbing, magma recharge, mid-ocean ridge volcanism, lava-flow emplacement and basaltic field volcanism).
• Extraterrestrial volcanism (including mapping of volcanic landforms and modeling volcanic processes on the Moon, Mars and Venus).
• Coupling between volcanism and tectonism ( including volcanism in extensional environments, volcanism in the Andes).

 

Personnel

Marcus Bursik, Volcanic and geologic hazards, plumes, tephrochronology, mapping , surface processes.
Eliza Calder, Volcanic hazards, dynamics of volcanic systems including lava dome volcanism and arc basaltic volcanism, volcano monitoring, pyroclastic deposits.
Tracy K. P. Gregg, Planetary volcanology (particularly on Mars and the Moon), mid-ocean ridge volcanism, basaltic lava flows.
Michael F. Sheridan, Volcanic hazards, hazard mapping and risk assessment, pyroclastic rocks. (Note: Sheridan no longer advises graduate students).

Greg A. Valentine, Volcanic risk, basaltic volcanic fields, pyroclastic deposits, volcano fluid dynamics, volcaniclastic and surface processes.

Joaquin A. Cortes,  Igneous petrology, geochemistry, thermodynamics of magmatic systems, magma mixing, textural analysis, geostatistics.

Description

The Volcano Studies program

Prospective Graduate Students

 

The Volcano Studies program offers PhD, MS and MA degree programs. In addition however, we offer two special degree programs: (i) International Geological Masters in Volcanology and/or Geotechniques (INVOGE); (ii) Professional Science Masters in Geohazards.

 

Prospective Graduate students are invited to contact faculty members to discuss potential projects. Teaching and research assistantships are awarded on a highly competitive basis and applicants will only be considered fully when the online application process is completed (see 'How to Apply' http://www.geology.buffalo.edu/graduate/index.shtml).

 

The Volcano Studies Program seeks to:

•  Provide undergraduate students with a selection of courses in volcanology, to allow them to gain a solid understanding of the content and methods of the discipline.

•  Provide Masters students with a solid understanding of the principles of volcano science, and an ability to use a subset of those principles in a guided research project. Masters students should also gain a broad course and skill background that makes them competitive in the technical marketplace.

•  Provide Doctoral students with the highest possible quality of close guidance in volcano research. Provide them with technical mastery in their chosen field, superior technical skills, and opportunities to display these skills in production of scholarly articles.

 

Volcanology-Related Courses Available in the Program

 

Core Classes:

Volcanology       GLY 431/531 (Offered annually /Fall semester)

Geohazards & Risk     GLY 431/528 (Offered annually /Spring semester)

Volcanology Seminar     GLY 597   (Held annually /Fall Semester)

Advanced Volcanology   GLY 477/577   (Offered Biannually /Spring semester)

 

Elective Classes, usually offered biannually:

Volcanic Rocks     GLY 533

Advanced Field Methods   GLY 578

Topics in Volcanology   GLY 574

 

Elective Classes, offered irregularly/on demand:

Methods in Volcanology   GLY 534

Topics in Planetary Volcanology GLY 554

 

In addition, there are many other classes of relevance to volcanology graduate students, including but not limited to: GIS Intro, GIS design, Landscape modeling, Remote sensing, Advanced remote sensing, Spatial Statistics, Computer science for non-majors, Computational Analysis of Fluids, and Transport Phenomena. In addition, informal study groups throughout the year focus on specific areas of interest through weekly meetings and discussions.

 

International Geological Masters in Volcanology and/or Geotechniques (INVOGE)

 

INVOGE is a new collaborative program funded by the US Department of Education involving the University at Buffalo and Michigan Technological University in the United States, and Blaise Pascal and Milan-Bicocca Universities in France and Italy. It aims to provide both US and European students with international training in volcanology and/or geotechniques in addition to giving them unique exposure to the culture and language of partner institutions across the Atlantic. Students will spend 1 year of their masters program in the US and 1 year in one of the European partner institutions and they will gain a dual Masters degree from both the home and exchange institution. To learn more about this program, visit the link on the UB Center for Geohazard Studies web page: ( http://www.geohazards.buffalo.edu/research/invoge/ ). Prospective University at Buffalo applicants for the program should contact a faculty member with whom they are interested in working and the INVOGE coordinator, Dr. Eliza Calder (ecalder@buffalo.edu ), and visit the program application website: ( http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~raman/INVOGE/Welcome.html ).

Professional Science Masters in Geohazards (New 2011)

The Department of Geology also offers an advanced, graduate certificate program in Professional Science Masters in Geohazards ( http://professionalmasters.cas.buffalo.edu/ ). The Professional Science Management (PSM) certificate is designed to allow students to pursue advanced training in science without a Ph.D., while simultaneously developing highly valued business skills without an MBA. The PSM is best suited for students who are interested in applying their scientific background in geohazards to real-world applications. The PSM in Geohazards program is specifically designed to benefit career prospects in fields such as corporate geotechnical, insurance/reinsurance, US Army Corps of engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other government or non-profit organizations. The program consists of five, three-credit hour graduate level courses, in Maths & Computing, Business Ethics/Communication, Business, Geohazards & Risk and an Independent Study Course. This certificate program can be completed in combination with any of our degree offerings.