Recent Newsletters

No. 60: March 2024

“It is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake” – Lord Byron

Editorial

Hello VMSG. Welcome back to a new year of VMSG Newsletters! Firstly, I’d like to thank Ailsa Naismith for her sterling efforts over the past three years in making the VMSG newsletter such a great resource or the community. I’ll do my best to keep up the good work! And on that note, please get in contact with me at any time if you have items you’d like to share in the next newsletter.  I’ll keep you informed with news from the VMSG committee, but if there’s anything else you’d like to broadcast to the British and Irish volcanology and petrology communities (and beyond) do let me know.

In this edition we’ll hear a bit about the 60th anniversary VMSG2024 meeting at the University of Bristol, the joint VMSG2025 meeting with MDSG in Dublin as well as details about the European Mineralogical Conference (EMC 2024) and 1st International Conference on Volcanic & Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS) happening this summer that will be of interest to lots of people in our community. There are also details about this year’s VMSG Awards, as well as VMSG Student Bursaries and the Henry Emeleus Fieldwork Award that are now open for applications. We’ve also got some introductions from new VMSG committee members who joined in January. – David Neave

VMSG2024: Celebrating 60 years of VMSG at the University of Bristol

Barely into the new year, the volcanic community was already seething with activity! The University of Bristol played host to the 2024 annual meeting of the VMSG (3-5 January 2024), bringing together volcanologists, petrologists, and magma-fanciers from all parts of the UK and Ireland. Although hosted in the Chemistry department, it was Bristol’s Volcanology group who organized and hosted the meeting, spearheaded by Dr Pete Rowley. This year’s VMSG was particularly special as it marked the 60th anniversary of the group. To mark the occasion, we had a keynote talk by Professor Sir Steve Sparks reflecting on 60 years of VMSG … and looking forward to the next 60+ years. The talk was followed by dinner in the Great Hall. To round out the Bristol experience, the meeting was followed by the Bristol Volcano Art & Film Festival at the Watershed, featuring an outreach sandwich of Into The Inferno – volcano displays in Waterside 2 – Lava Bombs (Friday night) and a field trip to the Sand Bay volcanics sequence near Weston-super-Mare on the following Saturday.

We were chuffed to welcome almost 200 in-person delegates (and more online) to Bristol for conversation, exchange, and culture. Overall there was a 11:9 split between students and non-students that was mirrored in those who gave the 43 oral presentations. In addition, 115 posters were presented, which must be close to a VMSG record! The gender split between female and male identifying delegates was 11:9, and beyond the main conference, 55 people participated in the pre-conference workshops, and 23 in the post-conference fieldtrip.

We hope it will be remembered as a fitting event to celebrate 60 wonderful years of investigating volcanoes and building a community devoted to this aim. – The Bristol LOC  (Ed: a big thanks to everyone in Bristol for organising a such a successful meeting!)

VMSG Awards 2024

Every year VMSG confers awards on members right across our community. You can find more about the awards here. This year we were thrilled to celebrate the following awardees in Bristol.

The Thermo Fisher VMSG Award: Clive Oppenheimer (University of Cambridge, left)

The Zeiss Post-doctoral Keynote Award: Martin Mangler (Durham University, middle)

The Willy Aspinall Award: Edna Dualeh (University of Leeds, right)

Amongst stiff competition from lots of excellent contributions we were also pleased to make the following awards for student presentations:

The Geoff Brown Prize for Best Student Poster: Ceri Allgood (Durham University)

Honourable mentions: Tianyuan Zhi (University of Bristol) and Emma Hadré (Kiel University CAU)

The Bob Hunter Prize for Best Student Oral Presentation: Tegan Havard (University of Liverpool)

Honourable mention: Janina Gillies (Durham University) 

Well done to all of this year’s winners, and a quick reminder from the committee that we can only make awards if we get nominations! So please do think about who is making major contributions to our science and community and consider nominating them for one of our awards, or indeed an award from another body like the GeolSoc or MinSoc, especially if they are yet to receive the wider recognition they deserve! – VMSG Committee

VMSG 60th Anniversary Seminar Series

As part of VMSG’s 60th anniversary celebrations, we’re excited to be running a series of seminars throughout 2024 on topics spanning the full range of VMSG science! We’re hoping to run about ten seminars in total, with Prof Sir Steve Sparkes having got us started in Bristol in January. The seminars will be taking place across Britain and Ireland, so hopefully you’ll be able to catch one or two in person. We’re also planning to stream the seminars so everyone has a chance to join in.

At the moment the following venues, dates and times have been confirmed:

• Trinity College Dublin, 3 April 2024, 18:00, Swetha Venugopal and Chris Bean will be discussing Volcano Monitoring
• University of St. Andrews, 8 May 2024, TBC
• University of Oxford, 14 June 2024, 12:00
• University of Edinburgh/British Geological Survey, 26th September, 17:00

Stay tuned via the VMSG mailing list for more information soon. – VMSG Committee

VMSG Student Bursary report

Partly sponsored by VMSG, I had the privilege to participate in the Cities on Volcanoes 12 conference held in Antigua, Guatemala, where around 600 people presented their works as posters or talks. The conference took place from the 10th to the 17th of February 2024. The main topics were diverse, including monitoring volcanoes; hazards and impacts of volcanoes on populations and how to deliver this information; art and volcanoes; and the perception of populations living near volcanoes. Thanks to the diversity of topics, I realised the impact of volcanologists and scientists on society. Personally, I delivered a 12-minute talk in the session titled “409: Multi-scaled and multi-parametric geodetic monitoring and modelling for studying and forecasting volcanic activity”.

The conference organised different field trips, and I participated in two. The first involved visiting Pacaya Volcano to learn about its eruptive history, and the second, held at the end of the conference, involved hiking to Acatenango Volcano to observe El Fuego Volcano, which is one of the most active volcanoes in Guatemala. During these trips, we learnt about the volcanic activity of these volcanoes and spoke with people who witnessed and experienced the last major eruption in 2018 of El Fuego Volcano.
Moreover, COV12 organised various pre- and post-conference workshops, and I participated in one named “Exploring communication strategies between volcano observatories and international partnerships.” This workshop provided me with new perspectives on people working in observatories and how to handle sensitive data without produce conflicts.

Attending this conference was a significant opportunity for me as I could meet and talk with scientists and volcanologists working on my topic, especially those working in South America. In that sense, I met people working at the Chilean Volcanic Observatory (OVDAS), which was very important to me as I am from Chile. Additionally, as different speakers exposed about stories of how much people were affected by different eruptions in the past was very inspirational and makes comprehend the important labour of studying volcanoes. So, it provided me with considerable motivation, fresh concepts, and valuable connections crucial for my forthcoming research endeavours. Finally, the conference was bilingual, with talks given in Spanish and English, which was very helpful for me as a Spanish speaker to reach and connect with other Spanish speakers. – Josefa Sepúlveda (University of Leeds)

VMSG2025 will be in Dublin!

The next VMSG Annual Meeting will be held on 6-8 January 2025 in Trinity College Dublin.

This will be a one-off joint meeting with the Mineral Deposits Studies Group (MDSG), with a combination of joint and parallel sessions.

The conference will include a series of workshops, fieldtrips and events looking at academic-industry collaboration, and attendees will have an opportunity to experience Irish culture from the historic city centre location!

Keep your eyes open for more news about this exciting meeting later in the year! – The Dublin LOC

VMSG Student Bursaries and the Henry Emeleus Fieldwork Award

The next round of VMSG Student Bursaries and the Henry Emeleus Fieldwork Award are now open and accepting applications until 15 March 2024.

We have recently reviewed the processes around award nomination, eligibility and decision-making for all VMSG funding. The purpose of this review was to streamline the application process, ensure funding is accessible to those who would benefit most, clarify eligibility for all awards, ensure fairness and encourage diversity.

Please check the new guidelines and application forms for all awards, as these have changed.

Student bursaries
These bursaries are intended to assist doctoral researchers who wish to present their work at a national or international conference/workshop (either as virtual or in-person attendance), carry out fieldwork for their research, or travel to use laboratory facilities in the UK or overseas (please note only travel costs are eligible, not instrument time or bench fees). Bursaries are awarded up to a maximum of £500. This round of applications is intended to support travel between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025.

Henry Emeleus Award
This fieldwork fund is intended to support early career researchers to undertake fieldwork, particularly research related to the Paleogene North Atlantic Large Igneous Province. Funding is awarded up to a maximum of £1000.

Application process
Full details and the application forms for both these funds are available on the VMSG website:

https://vmsg.org.uk/awards/henry-emeleus-fieldwork-grant

https://vmsg.org.uk/community/students/student-bursaries

Please send your application form electronically to the VMSG Awards and Bursaries Officer (Emma Nicholson) putting “VMSG Student Bursary Application” or “VMSG Henry Emeleus Application” (as applicable) as the title of your email. – VMSG Committee

European Mineralogical Conference (EMC 2024)

The Mineralogical Society of the UK and Ireland (VMSG parent body) is leading the organization of the fourth European Mineralogical Conference (EMC 2024). This event will be held at Trinity College Dublin on 18-23 August 2024. It includes the sessions along with many others of interest to the VMSG community:

• Volatiles and metals in volcanic systems: constraining their behaviour and processes between magma, gas emissions, and primary ore deposits
• One drop at a time: fluid, melt and multiphase inclusions as tools to understand geological processes
• Volatile cycling at subduction zones and its geochemical consequences: Insights from field studies, experiments and modelling

The conference website can be found at www.emc-2024.org; the early-bird registration deadline is 31 March 2024.

The organizers look forward to welcoming you to Dublin. – David Chew and Emma Tomlinson, Trinity College Dublin

1st International Conference on Volcanic & Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS) 

We are delighted to announce that the 1st International Conference of the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic & Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS) will take place in 2024 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. This event is being hosted by the MAGMA lab at the University of Liverpool, from 18-20 June 2024. There are more details here.

The conference will entail three days of workshops, academic talks, posters, and other exciting activities. Provisional talk/poster session themes for an in-person and virtual participation include:

• Magma transport & tectonics
• Volcanic-plutonic connection
• Magma plumbing systems and georesources
• Monitoring volcanic plumbing systems
• Modelling plumbing system processes

Potential specialist workshops for in-person attendees include:

1. Photogrammetry as a tool in studying active and fossil VIPS
2. Real-time VIPS observations using analogue experiments
3. Exploring crystal histories – the petrological and geochemical toolbox

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at the following email address if you have any questions about the conference: liverpoolMagmaLab@liverpool.ac.uk

We look forward to welcoming fellow VIPS enthusiasts in Liverpool. – VIPS conference local organising committee

New VMSG committee members

There have been some changes in the VMSG Committee as of January 2024, with three of us joining the committee.

James Dalziel – Social media and website

“I work as Earth Risk Research Lead within the WTW Research Network, part of insurance broker and risk advisory firm WTW. My role comprises facilitating research collaboration with academia, think tanks, non-profit organisations and industry-based research organisations in fields relating to geohazards, such as volcanic, seismic, landslide and tsunami risk. I also help to test, validate and compare hazard and risk modelling platforms. I publicise the research within these fields to teams across WTW, connecting academics with industry persons such as catastrophe modellers and risk advisors who use their research in a practical environment. As part of VMSG’s committee, I’m excited to use my position to help further publicise the group within the wider geoscience community, assist students and recent graduates better understand career options and opportunities available to them, and strengthen links between academic researchers and the insurance industry.”

 

Brendan McCormick Kilbride – Events and outreach

“I am a volcanologist and lecturer at the University of Manchester, in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. My research focusses on volcanic gas emissions and magmatic volatiles. I investigate the geological processes which govern changes in the composition and emission rate of volcanic emissions across a range of spatial and temporal scales, from subduction zone volatile recycling, to changing outgassing as a function of unrest, to the influence of exsolved volatiles on the physical properties of magmas in crustal reservoirs. I have been attending VMSG meetings since 2010 and am looking forward to giving back to a community that has been a source of support, friendship and scientific collaboration over many years.”

 

David Neave – Newsletter editor

“I’m a Senior Lecturer and NERC IRF at the University of Manchester. My research aims to understand the behaviour and evolution of magmatic systems from the generation and diversification of melts at depth through to their eruption at the surface. I combine experiments and the study of natural examples to understand magma storage and assembly within the crust, and the transfer of melts, crystals and volatiles to and from planetary interiors. I have attended almost every VMSG meeting since I started my PhD in 2010, and I am very excited to join the committee of a society that has both greatly supported my development as a researcher and been a source of much fun over the past decade. I’ll strive to keep up Ailsa Naismith’s good work with the newsletter and support the rest of the committee to ensure VMSG’s ongoing success.” 

Upcoming conferences

EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, 14-19 April 2024, early registration deadline of 18 March 2024, website

1st International Conference of the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic & Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS), Liverpool, 18-20 June 2024, website

Goldschmidt 2024, Chicago, 18-23 August 2024, abstract submission deadline of 29 March 2024, website

European Mineralogical Conference (EMC 2024), Dublin, 18-24 August 2024, abstract submission deadline of 22 March 2024, website

AGU Fall Meeting 2024, Washington D.C. 9-13 December 2023, session proposals in March 2024, website

Any more?

Do you have any job opportunities, PhD viva celebrations, or funding announcements that you would like to advertise? If so, please get in touch with David Neave.

Any other business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

 

No. 59: December 2023

“The subject may have been science, but the process wasn’t.” – Rebecca Elson

Editorial

Dear everybody, welcome to the final VMSG newsletter of 2023! There’s a lot in store for you, including details of our next annual meeting, VMSG2024. Hosted by the University of Bristol and celebrating 60 years of our community, it promises to be a very special gathering. Here you can find the final scientific programme and information on the film outreach event at the Watershed. Moving onwards, we hear from our student cohort: welcoming our new VMSG Student Rep, Rahul Subbaraman, and feature Nemi Walding’s VMSG Student Bursary report on her work in the enchanted Aeolian archipelago. Immediately after VMSG2024, another volcanology community gathers: the New GW4+ Volcanic Plumes Community will meet in Bristol on Monday 8 January and encourage you to get involved. Submissions are invited to two EGU2024 sessions, and readers may be interested in a new “Ashvances” seminar series from the IAVCEI Commission on Tephra Hazard Modelling. The newsletter closes with a regular round-up including jobs and other opportunities – and that’s a wrap!

This is my final issue as VMSG Newsletter Editor. It has been such a pleasure to share and enjoy your news since I began in January 2021; I’ve loved working with our community in this role. Thank you for your submissions, for your correspondence, and for reading. I can’t wait for future issues. Wishing you a happy and peaceful end of 2023! – Ailsa Naismith

VMSG2024 in Bristol – VMSG is 60!

We are on the threshold of our next annual meeting, held at the University of Bristol on Wednesday 3 – Saturday 6 January 2024. We’re so excited to welcome you to Bristol, particularly because in 2024 we will be celebrating the VMSG’s 60th anniversary. This annual meeting will celebrate the VMSG’s illustrious history, including a keynote speech by Prof Sir Steve Sparks on Thursday 4 January before the conference dinner. Besides the jam-packed scientific programme (see below!), we have pre-conference workshops on Wednesday 3 January, an outreach event at the Watershed cinema and café-bar in central Bristol on the evening of Friday 5 January, and for a lucky few, a post-conference field trip on Saturday 6 January to a local volcanic outcrop.The final scientific programme for the meeting is available here: https://vmsg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Draft-Scientific-Programme.pdf .

After the VMSG AGM, we warmly invite you to join our outreach event at the Watershed. The event will include two films: Into The Inferno (2016) (screened at 18:00 in Cinema 1) and Lava Bombs (2021) (screened at 21:00 in Waterside 3). Into The Inferno will be preceded by an introduction with Professor Clive Oppenheimer. Between the two films (20:00 – 21:00), we’ll be in the Watershed’s events room, Waterside 2, where a wealth of artists, scientists, engineers, and poets will be sharing their connections to the earth with volcanologists and the Bristol public alike! Entry to the Watershed, to the outreach hour in Waterside 2, and to see Lava Bombs is free, but screening of Into The Inferno is ticketed. Tickets are available here: https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/12384/into-the-inferno – please note that discounted tickets are available to under-25s! Watershed is also offering a 10% discount on all food and drink bought in the Watershed Café Bar to those who show a VMSG2024 pin & badge. For those who are travelling from further afield, Watershed has partnered with two nearby hotels that offer a 10% discount on accommodation for event attendees: the Clayton Hotel and the Bristol Hotel. To accesss the discount for The Bristol Hotel, you only need to say that you have a conference at the Watershed. The Clayton Hotel discount can be accessed by following the instructions here.

We are so looking forward to welcoming you to colourful Bristol in January! – University of Bristol LOC

VMSG Committee: Change in positions

New VMSG Student Rep: Rahul Subbaraman

Welcome to the new student rep, Rahul Subbaraman! Rahul is a 2^nd year PhD student at the University of Manchester. Rahul will be joining Kerys Meredew from 2024 as an advocate for student voice in the committee, replacing Eilish Brennan. Thanks Eilish for your excellent contributions to the committee!

Rahul says: I am currently in my second year of PhD in Earth Sciences at the University of Manchester. My project, titled “Mapping the Magma-Mush Interface”, involves investigating the textures and chemistry of well-preserved crystalline nodules from Gı́göldur in Iceland’s Northern Volcanic Zone. The primary goal is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the physicochemical properties of crystal mushes evolve over time and how melt- and crystal-rich environments influence the behaviour and evolution of deep magma plumbing systems. Excitingly, I have recently become a member of the VMSG Committee as a student representative. I am eager to seize this incredible opportunity to expand my professional network, establish meaningful connections, and further my passion for scientific communication and outreach within the fields of petrology, geochemistry, and volcanology. I am enthusiastic about developing a mentorship program to support students and early career researchers in their academic journeys.

It was excellent to see so much enthusiasm for joining the committee. Thank you to the other candidates who put themselves forwards for this position!

VMSG Student Bursaries

Aeolian Islands (Nemi Walding, University of Hull)

Through this grant’s support, I successfully undertook a field expedition to Lipari, Italy, in collaboration with Dr. Lucchi and esteemed colleagues.

The initial inspiration for this fieldwork stemmed from the work of Lucchi et al. (2022) on the Brown Tuffs of Lipari. Their research inspired me to pursue the Utrecht Grant Scheme, a mobility grant tailored for postgraduate students seeking to engage in overseas studies. I intended to collaborate with Dr. Lucchi at the University of Bologna. Thanks to the generous support of the VMSG bursary, I was able to conduct extensive fieldwork on the island, engage in insightful discussions, and meticulously gather data for subsequent analysis at the University of Bologna.

In the context of my ongoing PhD research, my focus centers on the intricate interaction between substrate and pyroclastic density currents, specifically examining how substrate moisture influences erodibility and flow dynamics through the utilization of experimental flume modelling. My colleagues and I have devised a technique for setting experimental deposits within gelatine, facilitating the excavation and sectioning of these deposits for analysis. The outcomes of these experimental currents unveiled compelling evidence of substrate erosion and remobilization, mirroring the observations made by Lucchi et al. (2022) within the Brown Tuff deposits. The research of these deposits has not only contributed to the validation of my experimental findings but has also enriched other areas of my thesis. Additionally, the collection of Brown Tuff samples during this fieldwork will strengthen my ongoing research.

Furthermore, I joined the prestigious AIV Volcanology School 2023 on a geological tour of Vulcano and Stromboli. This opportunity greatly expanded my knowledge and allowed me to experience incredible physical volcanology under the guidance of experts in these localities.

I am beyond grateful to the VMSG committee for their support and financial assistance, which made these experiences possible. Grazie! – Nemi Walding

Take a peek at Nemi’s research profile here.

New “GW4+” Volcano Research Community!

Dear colleagues,

We are delighted to announce that a new GW4 research community focused on our favorite topic: volcanoes! This will be mostly of interest to colleagues from the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, but we hope that this will create further opportunities to work with the whole UK and international volcanology family. Our community is entitled “Volcanic Plumes from the Seafloor to the Edge of Space”. We are very excited for our upcoming kick-off workshop on Monday, 8 January 2024 in Bristol, right after your favorite meeting of the year (obviously the VMSG annual meeting)! We look forward to supporting our early career research community through funding for VMSG meetings attendance and small GW4 research projects, with priority given to researchers from backgrounds under-represented in volcanology. Stay tuned for our next project funding call in January 2024. You can subscribe to our mailing list here and contact Thomas with any questions (t.aubry@exeter.ac.uk). We look forward to seeing you in Bristol! – Thomas Aubry, Neil Hindley, Ricardo Ramalho and Mark Woodhouse

EGU Sessions

EGU Session NH2.4: Advances in Experimental Volcanology

Dear colleagues,

We invite submissions to our session at EGU 2024, “Advances in experimental volcanology: closing the gap between simulations and the reality of sub-aerial volcanic hazards”. You can find more information on our session and instructions to submit abstracts at the following link: Session NH2.4 (copernicus.org). Please note the abstract submission deadline is Wednesday, 10 January 2024. – Fabio Dioguardi, Sylvain Charbonnier, Morgan Hetherington, Audrey Michaud-Dubuy, Ilaria Rucco

EGU Session GMVP8.8: Volcanic Plumes

New “Ashvances in Tephra Hazard Modelling” seminar series

Dear colleagues,

The Commission for Tephra Hazard Modelling of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) is delighted to announce a new quarterly online seminar serie, “Ashvances in Tephra Hazard Modelling”. Each seminar will consist of two 15-20-minute talks with 5-10 minutes for questions. The last 10 minutes will be kept for general discussions, e.g., how our commission can serve you better, and socializing/networking. At least one of the talks will be by an early-career researcher, and we will use this seminar series to showcase the work of researchers with backgrounds underrepresented in volcanology. Time zones will be selected based on the location(s) of speakers and we will aim to rotate these as much as possible to reach audience members from across the globe and give everyone an equal and fair chance to participate in the seminars. We aim that by having two talks per seminar, each session will cover multiple topics, including but not limited to numerical modelling, field studies, laboratory experiments and risk communication/management.

We were delighted to host Liam Kelly (Vanderbilt University) and Costanza Bonadonna (University of Geneva) for our kick-off seminar in September, and we enjoyed hearing from Hannah Moore (University of Tasmania) and Fukashi Maeno (University of Tokyo) at our last seminar on Wednesday 29 November 2023. Register for our next seminar [here]! All seminar recording will soon be available on our website (thm.iavceivolcano.org). We are always looking out for new speakers in future seminars. Please use this form to register your interest in being a speaker or suggest a student/colleague*. We particularly encourage (self-) nomination of diverse and early career scientists.

We look forward to seeing you at our next seminar! – Thomas Aubry, Alastair Hodgetts and Paul Jarvis

New ERC Synergy Grant: ROTTnROCK

ROTTnROCK is a newly funded European Research Council Synergy grant, led by Thomas Walter (GFZ Potsdam, Germany), Valentin Troll (Uppsala University, Sweden), Michael Heap (Strasbourg University, France), and Claire Harnett (University College Dublin, Ireland). The ROTTnROCK project was awarded 9,989,653 Euros for six years to study the role of hydrothermal alteration on volcano morphology, instability, and unpredictable volcanic hazards. The project will start in earnest next year, when we will be advertising 16 PhD and postdoc positions! At GFZ (main supervisor Thomas Walter; twalter@gfz-potsdam.de), there will be 3 PhD studentships and 1 post-doc. At Uppsala (main supervisor Valentin Troll; Valentin.Troll@geo.uu.se), there will be 2 PhD studentships and 2 postdocs. At Strasbourg (main supervisor Michael Heap; heap@unistra.fr), there will be 3 postdocs. And at Dublin (main supervisor Claire Harnett; claire.harnett@ucd.ie), there will be 3 PhD studentships and 2 postdocs. So if you’re interested in getting involved, either directly as a PhD student or a postdoc, or alteratively as a collaborator, please get in touch – and watch this space! The adverts will be circulated widely, but you can keep up-to-date on the ROTTnROCK project by visiting our website (http://rottnrock.eu) or our socials (@ROTTnROCK on X and @rottnrock.bsky.social on Bluesky Social). – Mike Heap, Claire Harnett

Regular Opportunities Round-up

Jobs

Research Fellow (Seismologist) – UWI Seismic Research Centre

The UWI Seismic Research Centre, located in Saint Augustine (Trinidad & Tobago), is seeking a research fellow to carry out seismic monitoring and analysis as part of a team that provides real-time earthquake and volcanic surveillance in the Eastern Caribbean. The successful candidate will play a lead role in the operations, maintenance and further development of seismological data acquisition, and oversee the operational and technical aspects of the seismological monitoring network.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 14 January 2024. Full details for the role can be found here. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

IODP Project Manager – University of Leicester

The University of Leicester seeks a project manager for a fixed-term contract (until 31/12/2024). The successful candidate will form part of an established team that acquires and analyses core petrophysical and downhole measurement data, and will be responsible for the financial, contractual, and administrative side of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) team at Leicester. The ideal candidate would contribute to all IODP expedition activities of the group, including the operational planning of ocean research drilling and coring projects.

The closing date for applications is Tuesday 2 January 2024. Full details of the role can be found here. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Tim van Peer at tevp1@leicester.ac.uk.

Lecturer/Associate Professor – University of Southampton

The University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) is seeking to appoint a Lecturer/Associate Professor in Applied Geology or Environmental Geoscience, with research interests in one or more of the following areas: volcanology; mineral resources with applications to the energy transition; environmental or hard-rock geochemistry; igneous petrology.  The post-holder will be based at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton, within the University’s Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences.

The deadline for applications is Monday 22 January 2024. Full details of the role are available here.

Research Associate – University of Bristol

The University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences seeks to appoint a postdoctoral researcher for 2.5 years to work on geodetic inverse modelling as part of the ERC grant “Imaging Magmatic Systems”. The postdoc will develop new models to image strain within magmatic systems, and explore the links with crustal rheology and eruption forecasting. Applicants should have experience of geophysical modelling in the solid earth geosciences, and ideally have experience using geodetic data to study the earthquake cycle or volcanic deformation.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 10 January 2024. Full details of the role are available here.

Geothermal Scientist/Science Lead – UKGEO

The British Geological Survey (BGS) seeks a geothermal scientist/science lead for the UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow (UKGEO). The postholder join BGS to lead on geothermal science direction, scientific delivery, and utilisation of the UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow. This senior role will deliver impacts towards decarbonisation of heat/cool/storage by advancing the evidence base and innovations in shallow geothermal from the unique subsurface observatory. The position is based at the BGS offices in Edinburgh (situated on the Heriot-Watt University campus), with regular travel to the UKGEOS Glasgow site and nationally.

The closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday 14 January 2024. Full details for the role are available here.

Any more for any more?

Do you have any job opportunities, PhD viva voce celebrations, or funding opportunities that you would like to advertise in this area? If so, please get in touch with the VMSG Committee to share your news in a future newsletter!

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

No. 58: September 2023

“Any time of year, you can find it here” – Eagles

Editorial

Welcome to the end of summer and another VMSG newsletter! At any time of year, you can find here news about the UK & Ireland volcanology community. This issue (the penultimate of 2023) is extra-big, so here’s a run-down of what’s in store. First, we have a retrospective on the VMSG workshop on Researchers Responding to Volcanic Crises that took place in July 2023. Following that, we hear about the first-ever Dublin Volcano Day. We move further afield to Berlin for a report on the IUGG2023 conference, before calling for new members to join the IAVCEI CVS. Next up, a slew of VMSG-specific news: a brief update on the VMSG2024 conference in Bristol, news on VMSG Committee turnover, three VMSG Student Bursary reports, and recent VMSG award winners. We note Tamsin Mather’s recent appearance on the Infinite Monkey Cage podcast, before ending with our Regular Round-Up of jobs, vivas, and funding announcements. Happy reading. – Ailsa Naismith

Researchers Responding to Volcanic Crises: VMSG workshop summary

What do a poem, a map, and a suite of rocks have in common? They are all ways in which we remember and make sense of the experience of a volcanic eruption. 45 members of our community met in the John Flett Lecture theatre of the Natural History Museum on the 3rd of July to consider the various ways in which we respond to volcanic crisis, with a particular focus on the Eastern Caribbean as a case study. We began by considering the impact that colonial practices have had on the development of the research field and practises in the UK, and how we can ensure we do not reproduce these today.

We then moved on to consider present day response to crises, how we can fund research in that moment, and the various challenges that present themselves to us. Pat Joseph and Richie Robertson from SRC gave the invited lecture about their experiences responding to the 2020-2021 volcanic eruption of La Soufrière, St Vincent. In responding to a volcanic crisis it is (almost always) true that there is also a ‘crisis’ in that the eruption is exposing vulnerabilities and causing real problems for local populations. In going to a volcanic eruption site you should honestly ask of yourself the question: why are you there? During discussions the group agreed that it would be good to further consider the ethical dimensions of working in this environment, and further drill into the issues specific to different areas of volcanology, the gathering of samples, data and implicit use of resources – perhaps one for a future VMSG workshop!

The second half our discussions focussed on the profound influence on experience and perspectives that is exerted by working on and around an active volcanic system. Its perhaps why volcanologists often embrace and develop interdisciplinary ways of working and thinking.  We discussed ways in which we can better support our community to gain those experiences while remaining respectful of communities at risk. The full meeting summary can be found here. – Jenni Barclay, David Pyle, Teresa Armijos and Chiara Petrone

Inaugural Dublin Volcano Day

This summer saw the first Dublin Volcano Day, which brought together volcanology researchers from Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies for a day of presentations and networking, supported by the iCRAG Research Centre. Dublin Volcano Day was held on 10 May 2023 at the beautiful Museum Building of Trinity College Dublin. The event was attended by approximately 35 researchers at all career levels, reflecting the recent growth of a strong volcanological research community on the island of Ireland.

Presentations spanned a wide range of topics in geology, geochemistry/petrology, geophysics and rock mechanics, with both basic and applied objectives. These included a truly global range of study sites, from Antarctica to the Galapagos Islands. However, a particular highlight was the resurgent interest in how under-explored aspects of Irish geology can be used to address first-order outstanding research questions, including novel analyses of maar-diatremes in the Limerick Basin and classic localities in the North Atlantic Igneous Province. The event concluded with a brainstorming activity to develop an inter-institutional outreach project, which will introduce the Irish public to the range of volcanological landforms in their natural environment.

The intention is to replicate Dublin Volcano Day annually as a means of building ties between Irish institutions and continuing to develop an Irish volcanology community, embedded within VMSG. – Mike Stock & Claire Harnett (co-organizers)

VMSG at IUGG2023

IUGG (the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics) hosts their conference every four years. IUGG is an international organisation that comprises eight semi-autonomous Associations, of which IAVCEI (the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior) is one! The IUGG conference is therefore an important meeting for geoscientists worldwide, including us volcanologists. IUGG2023 was held on 11-20 July at the Berlin CityCube. Berlin is a progressive, inclusive city, and we were treated to bright sunshine in a beautiful location for the duration of the conference. The scientific programme included sessions across a broad spectrum of volcanology: from modelling of magma deformation, interactions between volcanic eruptions and climate, to historical volcanology. Our personal highlights were Sessions V09 (Advanced Remote Sensing Techniques to Study Volcanic Hazards) and V04 (Integrated Approaches to Pyroclastic Density Currents).

The 2023 conference was the first time that IUGG included several “Big Themes” in its program, such as EDI issues, ECR concerns, and interactions between the Global North and Global South. We were pleased to see these themes included in the program, and delighted that the IUGG are starting to place these conversations on the stage at large, international conferences. As these conversations become more familiar at IUGG, we would really like to see the organization build on these by using their platform to elevate voices of those that are often under-represented in our community.

We were impressed by the multiple contributions to IUGG2023 of IAVCEI members, both in their scientific efforts (including informative posters and engaging talks) and in their willingness to ‘stand up and be counted’. From debating the current IAVCEI bylaws in the IAVCEI General Assembly, to urging the panel of the EDI Big Theme to consider how conference fees impact who can attend in person, individual members of our community raised their voices to call for progress for everyone across the geosciences. There was a relatively small number of IAVCEI delegates at IUGG2023. This may be partly because many attended IAVCEI2023 in New Zealand earlier this year.However, the conference is an essential part of our calendar and a valuable opportunity to talk with people from other areas of geoscience about these issues. IUGG also provides funding to IAVCEI which is contingent on attendance of IAVCEI members to IUGG conferences. We would love to see more IAVCEI members at future IUGG assemblies!

IUGG2023 is especially important for IAVCEI members because it hosts the IAVCEI General Assembly (not to be confused with the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly, also every 4 years, next held in Geneva in 2025). The IAVCEI GA is an opportunity for the IAVCEI Committee to speak with the community about the advances that have been made by the community, and to award members for outstanding contributions (N.B. look out for them later in the newsletter). This year, the GA also included proposals to change various statements within the bylaws that govern IAVCEI’s proceedings. This led to lively discussions within the volcanological community present in Berlin. The general take-home message from this discussion seemed to be a feeling that perhaps an overall review of the bylaws is required to ensure they accurately reflect the full breadth of awesome volcanologists in our community, including those who might have entered the field through non-traditional academic routes. We really welcome these discussions going forward.

In the IAVCEI GA, the newly-elected IAVCEI Committee shared their vision for their tenancy (2023 – 2027). This vision aims to build an inclusive, diverse community that gives voice to underrepresented groups (e.g., enriching the governance of IAVCEI through greater inclusion of underrepresented groups in leadership roles, commissions, and other prominent roles). This is a promising time for members of the VMSG to collaborate with IAVCEI and IUGG toward improving our community. Though the conversations at IUGG may be just beginning, we see a huge opportunity for volcanologists from the UK and Ireland to share our learning within VMSG with the greater volcanological (IAVCEI) /geological (IUGG) community. So, look for opportunities to get involved: to disseminate your science, to share your learning, and to make your voice heard on the wider stage. – Claire Harnett & Ailsa Naismith

IAVCEI CVS: Call for new members

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanogenic Sediments is looking for new committee members!

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanogenic Sediments (CVS) fosters common interests in research on all sedimentological aspects of volcanic phenomena, including the genesis, transport, deposition and diagenesis of all volcanogenic sediments. The scope of CVS is broad: from ash clouds to debris avalanches, from process to product, from hazard analysis to constructing facies models, from modern to ancient systems, and from purely volcanological to purely sedimentological perspectives.

The new co-leaders of CVS, Andrea Di Capua and Rebecca Williams, are looking for new committee members to support a wide range of CVS activities such as webinars, workshops, encouraging collaborations and hosting conference sessions. We’re looking for volunteers from all career stages, from across the globe. If you are interested, please email us at rebecca.williams@hull.ac.uk with a ~300 word expression of interest, letting us know why you would like to be involved and what role may interest you (e.g., Webmaster, ECR Representative, Social Media Officer, Secretary, EDI Officer, Events Officer, Ordinary member). – Rebecca Williams

VMSG2024

Preparations are underway for the next VMSG conference, which will be held on 3-6 January 2024 at the University of Bristol. Follow this link to the official VMSG2024 website, which contains information on the conference schedule, venue, and travel and accommodation. More news (including conference registration) will be shared soon via the VMSG mailing list (so make sure you have subscribed). – University of Bristol Local Organizing Committee

VMSG Committee turnover

This season marks a significant turnover of the VMSG Committee, as several positions have either changed recently or will change in January 2024. Below, we share a little about each position and hear from the people who have occupied these roles.

The VMSG Committee is seeking to recruit for three positions beginning in January 2024: Social Media Officer, Student Rep (to join Kerys Meredew), and Newsletter Editor. If you are interested in applying for one of these roles, please get in touch with the current post-holder via the contact details beside their blurb! Look out for an official call for these three positions that will be posted by our secretary, Seb Watt, on the VMSG JISCmail later this autumn.

Secretary

This year, Janine Kavanagh left her position as the VMSG Secretary and the new post-holder, Seb Watt, joined. The VMSG Secretary plays an essential role within VMSG, working with the President and the Treasurer as part of the core VMSG Executive Committee. We are hugely grateful to Janine for the enthusiasm and dedication that she has brought to her role during the last four years. Her involvement has ensured that committee meetings and events throughout the year occur smoothly and in good spirits.

Janine says: “It’s been a real honour to serve the VMSG community as the VMSG Committee Secretary these past 4 years, which has spanned pre-Covid times, full lockdown, and now the ‘post-Covid’ era. It’s been heart-warming to see how so many on the VMSG Committee and the VMSG membership have given their time and energy to help build a strong community of volcanologists across the UK and Ireland. It’s also been completely inspiring to work alongside such passionate and talented individuals and to see how teams have come together to run great events, such as the annual conference, workshops and panel discussions. I’m particularly grateful to have had the opportunity to help develop new policies related to code of conduct, awards and running meetings, and it’s been a privilege to support the VMSG in leading efforts to improve equality, diversity and inclusion practices. Special thanks to all the Committee members I’ve had the pleasure to work with these past 4 years, particularly to the past and present VMSG Chairs Sally Gibson and Tamsin Mather for being fantastic role models, and to Seb Watt for taking on the Secretary role going fowards. I look forward to seeing many of you in January in Bristol as the VMSG celebrates its 60th anniversary!”

Seb says: “I’d like to thank Janine for all of the work she has put in to VMSG over the past few years, and am greatly looking forward to taking on the secretary position and to working closely with the rest of the committee and wider VMSG community”.

We warmly welcome Seb as the new Secretary and look forward to working with him in the coming years!

EDI

Dr. Katie Preece (University of Swansea) took over as the Committee’s EDI Officer from Dr. Jazmin Scarlett, who has left volcanology to work as a Flood Resilience Officer at the Environment Agency. We are hugely grateful for Jazmin’s work during her tenancy as the VMSG EDI Officer and her contributions to the volcanology community. Meanwhile, we are excited to have Katie in the committee and look forward to working with her.

Jazmin says: “As the EDI Officer, I conducted a couple of firsts for VMSG: conducting the first EDI audit of the awards and bursaries for the committee to make improvements and hosting the first EDI forum at VMSG in London. I enjoyed working with the committee, MinSoc and the VMSG community to find ways to improve EDI in UK volcanology and I wish everyone and Katie the best of luck and good fortune.”

Katie says: “I’m excited to have recently joined the committee as the incoming Equality and Diversity Officer. One of the first things I’m working on is the VMSG EDI Report 2023. As part of this, we’ll be surveying VMSG members on various issues, so please look out for an email coming soon with more information!”

Newsletter Editor

Hello – I am the person who put this newsletter together! It has been an absolute pleasure to be the VMSG Newsletter Editor since January 2021. My favourite part of the role is the creativity involved in designing the newsletter, including the individual twists one can add (I will miss finding a new quote every three months). I also love feeling connected to volcanologists across the UK & Ireland through the editorial responsibilities of soliciting updates and highlights from our community. I look forward to seeing what the next editor will do!

If you would be interested in taking the Newsletter role, contact me to find out more at: ailsa.naismith@bristol.ac.uk

Social Media Officer

Dr. Elliot Carter (Trinity College Dublin) has been the Committee’s Social Media Officer for three years, working tirelessly to share and promote VMSG activities across myriad social media accounts. The reach of the VMSG has been massively increased by his efforts. Thanks, Elliot!

Elliot says: “My role has been to manage the various VMSG social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube) and to publicise what VMSG is up to, whether that’s news, opportunities, workshops, awards, or recorded talks from the annual conference. I’ve really enjoyed my time on committee and I can’t believe three years have gone by so quickly. I’ve got a lot of highlights but what particularly surprised me was the sense of community among the committee, especially through various lockdowns when virtual coffee breaks were a lovely dose of friendly company.”

If you would be interested in taking the Social Media role, ask Elliot for details at: ELCARTER@tcd.ie

Student Rep

Eilish Brennan (University of Leeds) has been a student rep since November 2021 as an enthusiastic and engaged member of our team that it has been a pleasure to work with.

Eilish says: “It was a pleasure to be on the committee for the past two years. It has opened my eyes to all the branches of volcanic and magmatic studies and the amazing students pushing science in these areas. I spent most of the term working with Emma and Kerys, as well as many other of the committee members, to improve the student resources within the community. A final highlight would have to be the VMSG outreach day at the NHM following the January conference.”

If you would be interested in taking the Student role and working with Kerys Meredew (University of Birmingham), our other student rep, contact Eilish for more info at: eeebr@leeds.ac.uk

VMSG Student Bursary Reports

Ugur Balci – Goldschmidt 2023 (Lyon, France)

I was thrilled to be able to present two projects from my PhD research at the July 2023 Goldschmidt conference, held in Lyon, France. It was my first in-person conference meeting after the COVID-19 pandemic. I made two oral presentations, building up two chapters of my PhD research. The first talk was entitled ‘Origin and implications of He-depleted Afar mantle plume’ in the session, ‘Distribution and role of deep mantle volatiles on Earth evolution’ within the theme ‘The dynamic deep Earth’. I presented the latest models from this project, where we investigated high 3He/4He but low He content of Afar plume using Red Sea basalt glasses. The second presentation was entitled ‘High resolution He isotopes from Reykjanes Ridge MORB support pulsing Iceland plume’ in the ‘Insights on the formation, preservation and transport of mantle compositional heterogeneities’ session within the same theme. In this talk, I presented new precise 41 He isotope measurements from basaltic glasses along 55 – 63oN Reykjanes ridge and its implications on the pulsed Iceland plume. Both presentation slots were 15 minutes, so I had enough time to wrap up all the results and models. I got excellent feedback for both studies, especially for the second presentation, which is still an ongoing project. It was a very interactive and engaging conference meeting. It was great to see old friends and colleagues after a long time and meet new ones, especially for a 3rd year PhD student. The only difficulty was Lyon’s scorching weather, considering after Glasgow’s ‘summer’ days… – Ugur Balci

Ugur studies at the University of Glasgow. Find Ugur’s work here.

Helen Innes – INQUA2023 (Rome, Italy)

Thanks to the VMSG student travel bursary, I was able to attend the INQUA2023 (International Union for Quaternary Research) congress in Rome, in July. Held every 4 years, INQUA 2023 was a perfectly timed opportunity to present my research and network as I come to the final stages of my PhD studentship. I greatly enjoyed attending many sessions which covered themes highly relevant to my research, including tephrochronology, volcanic impacts on climate, and ice core related research.

I was fortunate to have two abstracts accepted and presented twice during the conference – an oral presentation, “Identification of the Los Chocoyos supereruption in polar ice and marine sediment cores: climate and stratigraphic implications” in a session focussing on environmental changes and linking records during MIS 5d-a, and a poster presentation, “Improved source attribution of 7th Century CE volcanism from evidence in Greenland ice” during the Volcanic Impacts on Climate and Society (VICS) session. Presenting in these two differently themed sessions was an excellent experience, and I enjoyed varied questions and follow up discussions with researchers who had a broad range of interests and perspectives. With both of my presentations falling on the same day (during the peak of the southern Europe heatwave!), I was delighted that the VICS afternoon session was followed by a social meet-up where I could catch up with colleagues and friends from the VICS community over an Aperol!

Overall, attending an international conference at this point in my career was a thoroughly valuable experience, and provided me with a large injection of enthusiasm for the final months of thesis writing and beyond. – Helen Innes

Helen studies at the University of St. Andrews. Find Helen’s work here.

Clara Matthews Torres – Goldschmidt 2023 (Lyon, France)

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Goldschmidt 2023 geochemistry conference in Lyon, France, with the support of a VMSG student bursary. This was my first big conference presentation, and I had a lot of nervous excitement at the beginning of the week. The conference itself was overwhelming and absolutely jam-packed with workshops, fantastic research posters and good conversation across all disciplines of geochemistry. Over the conference week there were several excellent plenary lectures, including a talk by Lawrence Meinert who was able to bring together both wine and geochemistry.

I presented a talk on my work on the behaviour of mobile chalcophile elements across the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt, which focussed primarily on the behaviour of these elements relative to well-known geochemical proxies, and element variations across an arc. The talk was a great experience, and I was able to gain valuable feedback from fellow researchers in the field and make some new contacts along the way.

The final day of the conference coincided with Bastille Day celebrations with spectacular fireworks and celebrations throughout the evening, a perfect conclusion to a great week. Overall, the conference week was a memorable experience, and I am very thankful to the VMSG for giving me the opportunity to attend! – Clara Matthews Torres

Clara is a member of the London NERC DTP. Find Clara’s work here.

VMSG Awards Announcement

We are delighted to announce the winners of several VMSG awards:

Thermo-Fisher Award

The Thermo-Fisher Award is made annually to an individual who is deemed to have made a significant contribution to our current understanding of volcanic and magmatic processes. This year’s award-winner is Professor Clive Oppenheimer (University of Cambridge). Clive has an incredibly distinguished career and given insights into volcanic systems around the world. Clive is invited to deliver the a keynote lecture at VMSG2024 in Bristol.

Find Clive’s research here. And he’s got his own Wikipedia page – find it here!

Zeiss Postdoctoral Keynote Award

The Zeiss Postdoctoral Keynote Award is made annually to the lead author of an outstanding paper on a topic within the VMSG remit, who has also made an exceptional contribution to supporting individuals or the wider research community, or to broader society, commensurate with their early career stage. This year’s award-winner is Dr. Martin Mangler (University of Durham), for their paper, “Variation of plagioclase shape with size in intermediate magmas: a window into incipient plagioclase crystallisation”. Martin is invited to present their research as a keynote speaker at VMSG2024.

Read Martin’s paper here. See Martin’s profile here.

Willy Aspinall Prize

The Willy Aspinall Prize is awarded annually to the lead author of an outstanding paper on applied volcanology or geoheritage published in English, who is within three years of their being awarded a PhD at a university in the UK. This year’s award-winner is Dr. Edna Dualeh (University of Bristol). Edna’s paper, “Rapid pre-explosion increase in dome extrusion rate at La Soufrière, St. Vincent quantified from synthetic aperture radar backscatter“, was deemed a worthy winner by the judging panel. Edna is invited to present a talk on the paper at VMSG2024.

Read Edna’s paper here. See Edna’s profile here.

Once again, huge congratulations to all our winners!

VMSG Alumni Award-winners at IUGG2023

We wish to congratulate VMSG alumni who were awarded for their contributions to volcanology at the IUGG2023 conference in Berlin this July. Dr. Thomas Jones received the George Walker Award, Professor Kathy Cashman received the Thorarinsson Medal, and Professor Michael Heap received the Wager Medal. These people have contributed greatly to the UK and Ireland volcanological community and we are delighted to see their efforts recognized!

Also honoured at the IAVCEI General Assembly were Professor Karen Fontijn (Fisher Medal) and Dr. John Pallister (Krafft Medal). Many congratulations!

Tamsin on Infinite Monkey Cage!

The question that occasionally concerns all of us: should we be worried about supervolcanoes? VMSG President, Tamsin Mather, appeared on the Infinite Monkey Cage radio show recently to talk about enormous past eruptions (including one that may have sparked the French Revolution) and whether volcanologists can forecast impending eruption. This episode of the show, hosted by Brian Cox and Robin Ince, also featured geologist Chris Jackson and comedian Rachel Parris. You can listen on BBC Sounds here.

Regular Opportunities Round-up

Jobs

PhD (University of Lancaster)

Research Fellow in Volcanology (University of St. Andrews)

The University of St. Andrews seeks to recruit a postdoctoral research fellow for the UKRI-funded project “Taking Earth’s volcanic pulse: understanding global volcanic hazards by unlocking the ice core archive”. The opportunity will apply novel techniques to extract new information on source, type, and climate impact of past volcanism from ice core records. The role focusses on cryptotephra records which will be used to pinpoint geotectonic setting and source of past eruptions.

The closing date for applications is Friday, 29 September 2023. Full details for the role are available here.

Successful vivas

We wish to congratulate several newly-minted volcano doctors. Dr. Annika Voight (University of Oxford) successfully defended her thesis on “Exploring experimental Trachydacite magma storage and ascent of the 1257 Samalas eruption” in July. Dr. Amy Peach-Gibson (University of Plymouth) recently aced her viva on “Historic and prehistoric volcanic activity at St Kitts and Nevis, West Indies – controls on future hazard”, and Dr. Emma Watts (University of Southampton) successfully defended her thesis on the evolution of volcanism in the Afar region of Ethiopia in August. Well done to you all!

Any more?

Do you have any job opportunities, PhD viva voce celebrations, or funding opportunities that you would like to advertise in this area? If so, please get in touch with ailsa.naismith@bristol.ac.uk .

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

No. 57: June 2023

“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.” – Al Bernstein

Editorial

Hello volcanic and magmatic colleagues, and welcome to summer! This is the June 2023 VMSG Newsletter. Just as the lilac is blossoming and the hedgerows are growing full, this issue is overflowing with growth and bounty. We bring you news of an exciting exhibit, “Sensing Volcanoes”, at the Royal Society summer exhibition and its associated workshop, “Researchers Responding to Volcanic Crises” at the NHM. We unveil three exciting reports from VMSG student bursary winners, who have travelled to faraway lands to present their research. We bring news of a recently-published book on the extraordinary volcanic system of Mt. Merapi, Indonesia. Elsewhere, we share calls for applicants to various job openings, several VMSG prizes (final chance!), and to the MSc in Volcanology course at the University of Bristol. Isn’t it high time to sit in the sunshine and read this with a glass of lemonade? ¡Salud! – Ailsa Naismith

VMSG workshop: Researchers Responding to Volcanic Crises

Dear VMSG community! We invite you to the workshop “Researchers Responding to Volcanic Crises: Uncertainty, Imagination, and Improving Best Practice for Collaboration”, held on Monday 3rd July 2023, 10am – 5pm at the John Flett Theatre of the Natural History Museum (NHM). The workshop will be run by Jenni Barclay, Martin Mahony and Teresa Armijos (UEA), David Pyle (University of Oxford) and Chiara Petrone (NHM) in association with the Royal Society Summer of Science “Sensing Volcanoes” exhibition (4th – 9th July 2023) (See the “Sensing Volcanoes exhibit” item below!). This workshop is sponsored by UKRI Hidden Histories, APEX Award and the VMSG.

What’s the deal?: Volcanic crises around the world present unprecedented opportunities to observe, measure, and understand the natural phenomena that created them, either via remote instrumental networks or by deployment of field teams and their instruments. The UK academic community has access to these opportunities because of rapid response funding from NERC Urgency Grants, and well-established access to remotely sensed datasets.

However, the exploitation of scientific opportunities can create tensions, and there is more to a volcanic crisis than at first meets the eye. They are adventures into the uncertain and unexpected for everyone involved. What helps us most in these moments of profound uncertainty, and how do the behaviours and responses of scientists influence events; and what influence do these events have on the scientists? Those who monitor these events may be left out of later scientific analysis, or their contributions may be insufficiently recognised. Often, observations made in the moment by lay observers are also critical to the understanding of the phenomena.

This workshop brings together a variety of people involved in understanding these practices for a day of learning, sharing and understanding. Two groups of volcanologists within the ongoing “Hidden Histories” AHRC/NERC collaboration, “Curating Crises” and “Decolonizing UK earth science pedagogy“, will share insights from their research. The workshop also includes two panel sessions that will explore the tensions that science in a crisis brings, how to shape best practice for the future using knowledge from the past, and making sense of volcanic eruptions during crisis. These sessions will involve experienced volcanologists, funders and sponsors of crisis science, and arts-based practitioners. A keynote talk from the award-winning UWI Seismic Research Centre Team will explore their own experiences of the 2020-2021 eruption of La Soufrière, St. Vincent.

Please come to learn and to share your own experiences!  We particularly welcome early career researchers who would benefit from insights into obtaining or applying for this type of support, and interested researchers who respond to and learn from geophysical crises. After the event, the organising team will produce a short summary and recommendations for the VMSG community.

Please register for the workshop here.

NOTE: This workshop will be free of charge for VMSG members (but lunch is not included). We look forward to seeing you there! – The workshop organizers

VMSG Student Bursary Reports

Amy Myers – IAVCEI 2023 (Roturoa, New Zealand)

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to present results from analogue experiments I have been conducting at the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly. This was both my first time presenting more than a poster at a conference, and my first time attending a conference in person. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it turns out that I needn’t have worried! I arrived in Rotorua a couple of days before the conference started to attend some of the pre-conference workshops. These were a great way to meet people before the conference began and meant I had some friendly faces to look out for on Day One. The first workshop I attended helped me to think about what I might want to do after my PhD. The workshop’s panel members were fantastic and from a range of backgrounds; it was so helpful to hear such a range of perspectives and available pathways. I also attended a workshop where I got some encouragement and advice on writing papers and navigating the publication process; this was another very valuable session. My presentation wasn’t until the final day of the conference, meaning I had plenty of time to prepare (and get anxious!). I presented my talk, “Lava dome morphology controlled by viscosity and cohesion: Insights from analogue modelling”, in the session “From shape to process: geomorphology as a tool to unravel volcanic processes”. The feedback from the audience was really positive, who especially liked the GIFs I generated from time-lapse photography during each experiment. Attending IAVCEI was a great experience; I came away feeling much more confident and ready to tackle the paper writing process. – Amy Myers

Morgan Hetherington – EGU 2023 (Vienna, Austria)

I recently attended the EGU (European Geosciences Union) 2023 conference in Vienna and presented my work. This was largely made possible through VMSG funding.

Research background (work presented)

I am in the final year of my PhD research. My project involves both numerical and physical modelling of volcanic plumes. This work is fundamental, particularly for volcanic ash concentration forecasts and subsequent aviation advisories.

Numerical models are used to predict ash concentration forecasts, and often rely on initialization by simpler one-dimensional models that predict the source term (i.e., mass erupted, plume height and grain size distribution) in real time. The problem is, these one-dimensional models often assume a continuous stream of material emerging from the vent (in other words, steady-state source conditions). In reality, source conditions fluctuate, particularly during Strombolian and Vulcanian-style eruptions. My project replicates a series of scaled buoyant jets exhibiting steady-state and unsteady source conditions in the laboratory. The behaviour of the buoyant jet is analysed in response to varying source conditions, and the results are compared to assumptions made in numerical models. I presented preliminary findings from this research at EGU.

My experience at EGU

My PhD commenced in 2019 and shortly after, COVID occurred. Due to this, I have not had many opportunities to present at conferences in person. Additionally, this was my first time attending an international conference and travelling alone! The experience was amazing, and I recommend it to any young researcher interested in pursuing a research career. It was an opportunity to communicate my work, receive feedback, and network with academics. Learning about the latest research in volcanology was truly inspiring, and I left Vienna with a sense of excitement, knowing that I am on the path to achieving a career in volcanology research. – Morgan Hetherington

Kate Williams – IAVCEI 2023 (Roturoa, New Zealand)

During January and February 2023, I was fortunate enough to attend the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly 2023 in Rotorua, New Zealand thanks to the VMSG travel bursary.

The conference began with the creation of the hashtag #IAVCEIstranded following intense rainfall and flooding which resulted in the temporary closure of Auckland International Airport, temporarily stranding me in Melbourne, Australia. Luckily, the flight was rearranged for the next day, and I arrived in Rotorua the evening before the conference started.

This was my first in-person international conference, and so it was a great opportunity to present some of the work I have conducted during my PhD to a wider audience of international volcanologists. I presented numerical models on the coupling of magma fluid dynamics with thermal dynamics as a poster, and I presented observations of magma flow indicators of different scales (from the macroscale to the microscale) from the Whin Sill in northern England as an oral presentation in the “Architecture and dynamics of volcanic plumbing systems” session.

One of the highlights of the conference was the mid-conference fieldtrip to Taupō caldera, which included visits to incredible sequences of eruptive material from Taupō eruptions spanning thousands of years. The fieldtrip also included a boat tour on Lake Taupō, which was altered due to the poor weather but remained enlightening, taking us to visit the Maori Rock Carvings, and along the shoreline of the Taupō Caldera.

Overall, the conference was a great opportunity to network with researchers from different backgrounds and international institutions in a format that I have not yet had the opportunity to do during my PhD, and the discussions I had will greatly benefit my research going forwards. – Kate Williams

Sensing Volcanoes exhibit

From the 4th – 9th July 2023 you can catch “Sensing Volcanoes” at the Royal Society Summer Science exhibition. “Sensing Volcanoes” is an interactive multi-sensory exploration of the ‘who, what and how’ of scientists’ and communities’ observations of volcanic phenomena over the last 150 years. The project is a collaboration between The University of East Anglia, The University of Oxford and the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre and is based on work undertaken as part of the Curating Crises project. The exhibit also showcases photographs, films, interviews, and paintings created by communities from St. Vincent and Montserrat.

In the “SENSE” zone, visitors to the exhibit can explore the ways in which people observe changes in volcanic systems, making use of both their own senses (try the smelly volcano rocks!) and more sophisticated instrumentation. Using archive materials, the Sensing Volcanoes team have recreated some of the earliest volcano monitoring instruments, put to use by “expert sensors” like Frank Perret. Visitors can listen to the sounds of the volcano by putting their ear to a recreation of Perret’s listening trumpet into which “sounds of the volcano” are being played. They can also see how basic pendulums amplified volcanic tremor before modern seismometers were invented, and trace the evolution of instrumentation in our “DETECT” zone.

In addition to early scientific instrumentation and observers, the exhibit highlights and celebrates the vital observations made by communities living on and around these volcanoes, many of whom were ignored, or whose knowledge was extracted but whose contributions were “hidden” from the official scientific record. In our “Curating Crises” zone, visitors can explore some historical stories from St. Vincent and Montserrat and see what lessons can be learned to improve future research and volcanic hazard response. Some of these lessons are already being embraced in the Changing Landscapes project on St. Vincent and in the Montserrat Murals project, where communities are reclaiming and exploring their relationship to the volcanic environment through films, community-collected data and cultural artworks.

A key feature of Sensing Volcanoes is the “Imaginarium”: an interactive sound and light floor installation which challenges people to imagine how they would respond to changing volcanic hazards in the light of uncertainty and risk. In “Game Mode”, players select a livelihood and consider the best place to live before a volcano is revealed. Players try to retain their “disaster dollars” by avoiding the volcanic hazards in the fewest moves and considering the push and pull factors that influence their choices. In “Display mode”, the Imaginarium transforms into a crustal section below La Soufrière St Vincent as it runs through the earthquakes and gas and magma migrations of the 2020-21 eruption. In doing so, we illustrate the sub-surface signals and processes that relate to felt signals at the surface.

We hope some of you will join us at the Royal Society for an exploration of Caribbean volcanoes and observers over the last 150 years …

The exhibition is free, and no booking is required. Opening times: July 4th: 6 – 10 pm (Lates event, adult only); July 5th, 6th: 10am – 4.30pm; July 7th, 8th, 9th: 10am – 6pm. We hope to see you there. – Bridie Verity-Davies

N.B.: Please also come to our associated workshop, “Researchers Responding to Volcanic Crises“, which will be held on Monday 3rd July at the NHM. See the associated item further up this newsletter for more details!

New Publication on Merapi Volcano

The latest addition to Springer’s Active Volcanoes of the World book series, “Merapi Volcano – Geology, Eruptive Activity, and Monitoring of a High-Risk Volcano”, provides the first comprehensive compilation of cutting-edge research on Merapi volcano on the island of Java, Indonesia. Towering almost 3,000 m above the dominantly agricultural lowlands surrounding Yogyakarta in Central Java, the volcano is best known for the frequent generation of pyroclastic density currents produced when Merapi’s viscous lava domes collapse under gravity or due to small explosions. This phenomenon – referred to as ‘Merapi-type’ nuées ardentes (glowing clouds) in the classic volcanological literature – has made Merapi a household name among researchers and students in volcanology and has lifted its status to one of the most iconic volcanoes on Earth. Merapi’s eruptions also pose a persistent threat to life, property, and infrastructure within the densely populated areas on the volcano’s flanks, as demonstrated most recently by the catastrophic eruption in 2010, which caused nearly 400 fatalities.

In a collection of 18 chapters authored by 67 scientists from Indonesia and abroad and edited by Ralf Gertisser (Keele University, UK), Valentin Troll (Uppsala University, Sweden), Thomas Walter (GFZ Potsdam, Germany), I Gusti Made Agung Nandaka (BPPTKG, Yogyakarta, Indonesia) and Antonius Ratdomopurbo (Geological Agency of Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia), the book integrates in 572 pages the latest results from both the natural (geology, petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, physical volcanology) and social sciences, and provides state-of-the-art information on volcano monitoring, the assessment of volcanic hazards, and risk mitigation measures. An opening letter is provided by John Pallister and Jake Lowenstern of the United States Geological Survey, and the book’s foreword is given by Ibu Andiani, the Head of Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

This comprehensive collection of the latest research at Merapi summarized in a single, 18-chapter book has been termed ‘monumental’ (Corado Cimarelli; book series editor) and ‘a must-read for any student of Merapi volcano’ (John Pallister).

Here is the link to the Springer website which hosts the digital version of the book. For enquiries, please contact: r.gertisser@keele.ac.uk – Ralf Gertisser, Valentin Troll, Thomas Walter, Made Nandaka, and Antonius Ratdomopurbo

MSc in Volcanology at University of Bristol

VMSG Prizes – LAST CHANCE!

One final reminder that there are currently three VMSG awards open and accepting applications until Tuesday, 6th June 2023.

Thermo-Fisher Award

The Thermo-Fisher VMSG Award is awarded annually to an individual who is deemed to have made a significant contribution to our current understanding of volcanic and magmatic processes. The awardee will be invited to deliver the a keynote lecture at the 2024 VMSG conference in Bristol.

Apply: https://vmsg.org.uk/awards/thermo-fischer-award/

Zeiss Postdoctoral Keynote Award

The Zeiss Postdoctoral Keynote Award is made annually to the lead author of an outstanding paper on a topic within the VMSG remit, who has also made an exceptional contribution to supporting individuals or the wider research community, or to broader society, commensurate with their early career stage. The Award winner will have the opportunity to present their research as a keynote talk at the 2024 VMSG conference in Bristol.

Apply: https://vmsg.org.uk/awards/post-doctoral-keynote-award/

Willy Aspinall Prize

The Willy Aspinall Prize is awarded annually to the lead author of an outstanding paper on applied volcanology or geoheritage published in English, who is within three years of their being awarded a PhD at a university in the UK. The award  takes the form of a cash prize (£400) and a contribution towards attendance at an annual meeting of the Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group (VMSG), where the winner will be invited to present their paper.

Apply: https://vmsg.org.uk/awards/willy-aspinall-award/

Please do consider nominating your colleagues, mentors and peers for these awards! – Emma Liu

Regular Opportunities Round-up

Postdoc in Experimental Rock Physics (University of Edinburgh)

The University of Edinburgh is seeking an experienced postdoctoral researcher in experimental rock physics to join the NERC-funded project, “On The Edge”, which aims to characterize the mechanical, microstructural, hydraulic, and seismic properties of rocks as they approach catastrophic failure. Ths successful candidate will have access to state-of-the-art X-ray transparent rock deformation equipment combined with seismic monitoring equipment, and will be involved in experiments at the Diamond National Synchrotron Facility. Closing date for applications is Wednesday, 7th June 2023.

Details for the job are available here.

Field Geophysicist (BGS)

The British Geological Survey (BGS) is seeking a candidate to fill a full-time position as a field geophysicist based at their headquarters in Keyworth, Nottingham. The successful candidate will join the BGS Multi-hazards & Resilience (MHR) challenge area which includes geohazard research, landslide characterisation and monitoring, geo-energy, infrastructure monitoring, groundwater-surface water interactions, permafrost, nuclear waste disposal, mine waste and contaminant transport problems. The successful candidate will support and extend the BGS’s existing activities in the field and in the laboratory, including operating and maintaining their international geophysical observatory network for monitoring landslides as well as installing new monitoring infrastructure to underpin MHR science and other BGS challenge areas. Closing date for applications is Sunday, 11th June 2023.

Details for the job are available here.

Lecturer in GIS (University of Auckland)

The University of Auckland seeks a full-time lecturer in Geographical Information Systems. This permanent position would suit a researcher and educator with strengths in geocomputation, urban analytics, spatial data science and/or spatial big data analytics. The successful candidate will join the University of Auckland’s School of Environment, home to a vibrant group of students, academics and professional staff pursuing diverse interests in the social and natural worlds. Closing date for applications is Tuesday, 13th June 2023.

Details for the job are available here.

Any more?

Do you have any job opportunities, PhD Viva voce celebrations, or funding opportunities that you would like to advertise in this area? If so, please get in touch with ailsa.naismith@bristol.ac.uk .

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

No. 56: February 2023

“Love is something sent from heaven to worry the hell out of you.” – Dolly Parton

Editorial

Dear volcanic and magmatic colleagues, welcome to the VMSG Newsletter, February 2023. The shortest month of the year is the cigarette butt of winter, but it’s also the month of Imbolc and St. Valentine’s, of lengthening days, of turning towards the light. We bring to you this February a set of exciting news and views to remind you there is light at the end of the tunnel vision. As ever, happy reading! – Ailsa Naismith

VMSG2023: Back in person!

We share below a few words from the Local Organizing Committee, the Volcanologists of London (VoL) group. People agreed that the VoL organized a splendid conference, full of variety and flourish. This reflection shows that VMSG2023 did not come without challenge and enormous effort, but its success was well worth it:

“After 20 years, VMSG returned to London, organised by the Volcanologists of London (VoL) group. The congress was hosted by Birkbeck College and UCL in Bloomsbury from the 4^th to the 6^th of January 2023, with the conference dinner on the 5^th in the iconic Earth Hall of the Natural History Museum (NHM) in South Kensington and an entire day of volcano outreach and activities hosted by NHM on Saturday the 7^th.

It was the first in-person VMSG after the pandemic and the expectations were very high. Over 200 colleagues braved the 4 days long train strikes and made their journey to London to attend the conference, saving the VoL organising committee from bitter disappointment. Immediately following the conference, the Volcano Day at the NHM was an incredible success and the largest outreach event for the VMSG community. Over 90 volcanologists from across the UK and Europe joined the VoL on the Museum gallery floor with an incredible variety of hand-on activities over 11 stations. The NHM Learning team ran twice their ‘Emergency! Earthquakes and Volcanoes Show’. Chiara Maria Petrone and Nicolo Nardini entertained the public in the Attenborough Studio talking about volcanoes and how we study them. We had over 20,000 visitors to the Museum that day and almost certainly helped inspire a few future volcanologists!

Organising the conference and the outreach activity was challenging but very rewarding. We had to overcome several problems related to the logistics of moving between two sites, Birkbeck for the talk and the nearby UCL for posters. Organising the dinner at NHM proved expensive but very rewarding, and managing the health and safety for the outreach event was a challenging task that Mihaela Swift navigated brilliantly (thank you!). The final headache was caused by the announcement of 4 days of rail industrial action exactly during our conference week! It was too late to come up with a different plan, so we embraced it and hoped for the best. We can now happily say that everything ran smoothly, and we thank Kevin and Russell at the MinSoc and all the VMSG community that helped us to make it happen.” – Chiara, Chris, Eleanor, Hilary, James, Lauren, Michele, Mihai (Volcanologists of London)

Awardees & Student Prizes

VMSG2023 was a wonderful opportunity to award prizes to esteemed members of our community. Professor Eliza Calder (University of Edinburgh) received her Thermo-Fisher Scientific award after a rousing citation by Dr. Eric Breard highlighting her many and diverse accomplishments, and Dr. Nick Barber (McGill University) received the Zeiss Postdoctoral Keynote Award for his outstanding academic achievements and wholehearted support of budding geologists in his community. Both awards were presented at the NHM’s dinner. Eliza’s and Nick’s keynote speeches at VMSG2023, respectively on science communication in Guatemala and on magmatic processes driving metal systematics, were fascinating and thought-provoking. Congratulations to both!

VMSG2023 gave us the opportunity to hear about new and exciting science across the board. We were so impressed by the outstanding quality of student presentations this year. The 2023 winner of the Bob Hunter prize for best student oral presentation was Emma Watts (University of Southampton), and the runner-up was May Chim (University of Cambridge). The winner of the Geoff Brown prize for best student poster presentation was Kerys Meredew (University of Birmingham), and the runner-up prize was awarded to Kyra Cutler (University of Oxford). Many congratulations to all for your well-deserved awards!

VMSG2023: initial stats

214 people registered for VMSG2023, of which 108 (50.5%) were students. We had representation across all career stages: 2.3% of attendees were undergraduates, 46.7% were postgraduates (including final year), 21.0% were on fixed-term academic contracts, 2.8% were between contracts, 19.2% were permanent academic staff, and 3.7% were from industry and/or government. Of our student attendees, 25 (23.8%) gave an oral presentation, 65 (61.9%) gave a poster presentation, and 3 (2.86%) attended remotely.

VMSG2023 on YouTube!

Videos from the VMSG2023 conference will shortly be up on the VMSG’s YouTube channel, thanks to the hard work of Elliot Carter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel here and follow along for updates on the VMSG’s official Twitter here.

VMSG Student Bursaries Reports

Annabelle Foster – Fieldwork in Gran Canaria

During the course of my PhD, I have spent hours upon hours delving into the intricate textures found within silicic lavas that clog conduits. My work to date has been grounded in a new model, the ‘cryptic fragmentation model’, a process in which hot ash and pyroclasts are captured on conduit walls and sinter to form silicic lava (e.g., obsidian). This process is described as ‘cryptic’ and well, very much is, as sintering often eradicates any trace of a material once being a particulate state. The challenge is then to unravel the eruptive history of the lava. Fortunately, ignimbrites can also be welded, and at a much colder temperature compared to volcanic conduits as they deposit subaerially. Ignimbrites can even be welded to a point that glassy layers form, so in the past have been misidentified as lavas. The crossover was perfect, I could go look at welded ignimbrites with conduits in mind.

And thanks to the VMSG student travel bursary I was able to visit Gran Canaria (GC) to do this with Fabian Wadsworth, Rich Brown, Hugh Tuffen and Owain Smith. We were thrilled to see that most of the ignimbrites on GC have been dissected by roadcuts, although this did mean driving was a hard job when you’re trying to keep your eyes on the road (the photo is one of the rare cases we strayed more than 100 m from the car)! Throughout the fieldwork, there was lots of excited discussion about how the textural features we were looking at in the ignimbrites were like replicas of silicic conduits and/or lava domes we’ve seen on previous field excursions. This fieldtrip has given me so many ideas on how to combine these two worlds of volcanology, so watch this space (or for updates on my Twitter page, @volcannabelle) to see the outcome of this opportunity!

Once again, I would like to say a huge thank you to the VMSG committee for awarding me with this bursary, it  has greatly enriched my PhD. If you are interested in this work, please do get in contact with me at annabelle.foster@durham.ac.uk – Annabelle Foster

Emma Horn – IAVCEI2023 (New Zealand)

I was very fortunate to be able to present my PhD work, in person, at the January 2023 IAVCEI conference held in Rotorua, New Zealand. It was the first time I’ve been able to travel to and attend an international conference due to the pandemic. It was made even better having submitted my PhD thesis just before the Christmas holidays and a great opportunity to be able to discuss my work with the international community, without worrying about thesis writing! The theme of the session I presented in encompassed research looking into integrated approaches to track the lead-up to volcanism: “Unlocking the mush”. This was one of nine parallel symposia running as part of the busy IAVCEI schedule. My presentation was entitled ‘Melt-rich nodules capture the isotopic heterogeneity of a magma mush reservoir’. The presentation slot was only 12 minutes so I provided a quick overview of the chemistry and characteristic of interstitial melts found within cumulate nodules from Tenerife. Most of the details are given in my recent Journal of Petrology paper (Horn et al., 2022) but it was the first time I presented my lead isotope results from the second data chapter of my thesis. The talk is all a blur now but I got very good feedback from the audience and I met many new people because of interest in my research post-talk. A very different environment compared to giving an online presentation. It was a relief to be able to present so early in the conference as it was an extremely nerve-racking experience. Everyone was very kind and I was asked a number of thoughtful questions. This made it a really nice environment to present in as an early career researcher. The IAVCEI conference provided invaluable presenting practice and the opportunity to network with other researchers again. Rotorua was very rainy but in the few days of sunshine we had, it was a very beautiful place to host such an event. – Emma Horn

Upcoming Grants & Award Deadlines

Henry Emeleus Fieldwork Grant

The VMSG Henry Emeleus Fieldwork Grant is open and accepting applications until Tuesday, 28^th February 2023. This grant is intended to support researchers to carry out fieldwork for their studies, and honours the pioneering work that Henry Emeleus undertook in the Paleogene North Atlantic Igneous Province. Funding can be requested up to a maximum of £1000 to support fieldwork (e.g., transport, accommodation and field logistical support).

Full details and the application form are available on the VMSG website (here). Please send your completed application forms to emma.liu@ucl.ac.uk

Thermo Fisher Scientific & Zeiss Postdoctoral Awards

The Thermo Fisher Scientific and Zeiss Postdoctoral awards are open and accepting applications until Tuesday, 6^th June 2023. The Thermo Fisher Scientific Award is bestowed annually on an individual who is deemed to have made a significant contribution to our current understanding of volcanic and magmatic processes. The Zeiss Postdoctoral Award is bestowed annually to the lead author of an outstanding paper within the VMSG remit, who has also made significant contributions to supporting others in their community. More information on the Thermo Fisher Award can be found here and on the Zeiss Postdoctoral Award here.

PLEASE NOTE – Three important details of submissions to the Zeiss Postdoctoral Award:

• Deadline is now Tuesday, 6^th June rather than November in previous years.
• Nomination is now by nomination letter from supportersrather than by self-nomination.
• Nominations can be made by anyone, not just senior academics.

The winners of each award will be invited to deliver a keynote at the annual VMSG conference (VMSG2024 will be held in Bristol). Expenses will be provided to support the awardees’ attendance of VMSG2024.

Full details and application forms are available on the website (Thermo Fisher Scientific Award and Zeiss Postdoctoral Award). Please send your completed application forms to emma.liu@ucl.ac.uk

Regular Opportunities Round-up

Pre-announcement of Postdoc

Applications are invited for a 30 month (2.5 year) postdoctoral fellow with experience in volcanology and geophysics.  The search is for a Senior Research Associate to work as part of a new NERC-funded research project “Forecasting Eruptions at Volcanoes after Extended Repose” (FEVER). Full details will be announced shortly. For informal enquiries please email Phil Benson at the Portsmouth RML.

More details on the post are available on the pre-announcement page here.

Professor of Sustainable Geoscience (University of Leeds)

An exciting new opportunity has just been announced by the University of Leeds for an experienced and ambitious leader of the new Geosolutions Research Centre, part of the university’s investment in climate change mitigation. The post-holder will be involved in placing subsurface research at the forefront of addressing the climate crisis and will oversee development and delivery of innovative interdisciplinary subsurface research focussed on the energy transition.

The closing date for applications is Sunday, 26^th March 2023. More details are available here.

Technician (University of Plymouth)

The Faculty of Science and Engineering is looking for a technician to support the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (SoGEES). The post-holder will work under the direction of the School Technical Manager and deliver support to teaching and research activities predominantly in Chemistry but also Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. Candidates must have previous experience of working in a laboratory environment.

The closing date for applications is Monday, 13^th March 2023. Full details on the post are available here.

Any more?

Do you have any job opportunities, PhD Viva voce celebrations, or funding opportunities that you would like to advertise in this area? If so, please get in touch with ailsa.naismith@bristol.ac.uk .

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

No. 55: December 2022

“How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.” – William Faulkner

Editorial

Dear volcanic and magmatic colleagues, welcome to the final VMSG newsletter of 2022. At the toe of a turbulent year, we are thankful for the enthusiasm and tenacity of our wonderful community. This issue celebrates many of our younger cohort, as we are blessed with four (!) student reports. We look forward to welcoming many more bright sparks in the near future with the publication of the VMSG PhD studentship list for projects starting in 2023. Elsewhere, we greet new members of the VMSG Committee, spread details of the imminent VMSG2023 conference, and share invites to advances in EMPA. Happy reading, and I wish you all some peaceful and restorative times with family to close the year. – Ailsa Naismith

VMSG2023

VMSG2023 is nearly here! The conference will be on Wednesday 4th – Friday 6th January 2023, with post-conference outreach activities on Saturday 7th at the NHM.  Find information on outreach, the scientific program, transport, and accommodation on the dedicated website here.

Please note: national train strikes have been announced on 3rd – 4th and 6th – 7th January 2023. These may complicate travel for many attendees. Information for use of conference attendees can be found here. – Volcanologists of London

VMSG Committee: new members

The VMSG Committee is delighted to welcome three new members to our team. Dr. Emma Liu (UCL) is the new Awards & Bursaries Officer, and has started her role – you may have seen some of her emails already on nominations for the Zeiss postdoctoral award! Kerys Meredew (Birmingham) is the new Student Rep, supporting students in our community. Finally, Dr. Katie Preece will be joining the committee in January 2023 as a co-opted member. Katie will shadow Jazmin Scarlett for the next year and will become the Committee’s EDI officer after Jazmin’s term ends at end 2023. Katie will be supporting Jazmin with all EDI matters in the coming year and assist in writing the next edition of the VMSG EDI report.

Our huge thanks to our committee members, Dr. Nick Gardiner (Awards & Bursaries Officer) and Dr. Emma Watts (Student Rep) for their amazing hard work during their tenancy. We will formally announce our new members and give thanks to predecessors during the AGM at the VMSG2023 conference.

VMSG Student Bursaries reports

Charlie Compton-Jones: Goldschmidt, Hawai’i

Initially scheduled to take place in summer 2020, Goldschmidt 2022 in Hawai’i was the first Goldschmidt held in person since the 2019 meeting in Barcelona, following two years of entirely virtual events. Hosted at the Hawai’i Convention Center in Honolulu (interestingly – for me at least – the same building used to film the scenes inside Sydney Airport in the iconic TV show Lost), the return of Goldschmidt took place over a sunny seven days in July and consisted of the usual series of short-format talks, poster sessions, and invited plenary lectures, and concluded with the choice of many optional post-conference field trips across the Hawai’ian islands. However I, like many, opted to embark on my own post-conference island-hopping adventures to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

This was my first attendance of an in-person conference since January 2020 (MDSG in London) so it was a fantastic experience to finally present my research on orangeite dykes (exotic ultrapotassic magmas formed via low-degree melting at the base of cratons) in the vicinity of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Specifically, I presented a synthesis of multiple datasets to highlight how these rocks can record around a billion years of lithospheric mantle evolution beneath the southern African craton. Fittingly, my presentation was delivered in the Theme ‘Formation and evolution of oceanic and continental lithospheric mantle’ which took place on the final day of conference sessions.

Each day an invited researcher delivered an enthusiastic and informative plenary talk across the fields of geoscience and geochemistry. Particular highlights came from Kathryn Goodenough’s lecture, ‘Critical Raw Materials for the Energy Transition’ and Chip Fletcher’s ‘Multiple Overlapping Planetary Emergencies – A Human Inflection Point’. These powerful talks highlighted the important role we have as geoscientists in attempting to reduce the continued physical and social effects of global warming our planet is experiencing, whether that be via the extraction of green metals or simply by raising awareness and voting within our respective communities.

Goldschmidt 2022 was an unforgettable experience full of fantastic science in stunning surroundings; the bar has been set high for next year’s meeting in Lyon.

Velveth Perez: fieldwork in Torfajokull, Iceland

Hello VMSG community! Earlier this year I was awarded a student bursary which has contributed to carrying out essential fieldwork in the Torfajökull volcanic area. These field-based studies are an integral part of the cross-disciplinary approach of my PhD project, allowing us to characterise volcanic deposits and infer mush mobilisation and lava emplacement mechanisms.

Anyone traveling abroad this year might be experiencing some anxiety with the high number of delays and last-minute flight cancellations that people have been reporting, and my team was not the exception to these travel issues. We arrived to Keflavík Airport to find out that my supervisor’s bag had been lost and no immediate retrieval date was given to us.  Since access to the research area is only possible during the summer months, there was no other option but to improvise and adapt to the dreaded and unfortunate situation we were presented with.

We spent the next following days investigating and collecting samples from three separate lava flows: Laugrahraun, Námshraun, and Dómadalshraun. These are some of the most visited lava fields within the Torfajökull volcanic area, and their popularity is mainly due to their proximity to Landmannalaugar, a stopping point for thousands of tourists who visit the Icelandic Highlands during summer. The felsic samples with mafic inclusions that we collected are evidence of mingling between mafic magma, which has been injected by propagating dykes coming from Bárðarbunga volcano, and the resident felsic mush. We interpret this mechanism as the likely trigger of major felsic eruption cycles and hence as the key to assessing hazards in this system.

I am very appreciative of the contribution that VMSG put towards the success of my project. Expanding our geological studies and collecting samples of these volcanic deposits will allow us to perform geochemical and textural analyses within a greater sampling area. The geochemical and petrological data that is collected in the next few months will be used to constrain custom-built three-phase reaction-transport models that will in turn inform the hazard assessment and early warning scenarios of the Torfajökull volcanic area.

Bridie Verity-Davies: CoV11, Heraklion, Crete

Cities on Volcanoes 11 – It really Halloumi away!

In July 2022, I was able to attend the long-delayed and highly anticipated Cities on Volcanoes 11 in Heraklion, Greece thanks to the support of the VMSG student travel bursary – awarded way back in the heady days of winter 2019. As I was coming to the end of my PhD (or so I thought…) it felt important to share my work with the diverse community that attends CoV as well as take advantage of the opportunity to hear from experts across all aspects of the volcanic hazards community worldwide. With COVID-19 delaying the conference until I was outside my PhD funding period, without the support of the VMSG travel bursary I would likely have struggled to attend.

As I (like many) hadn’t left the country since the start of lockdowns in 2020, the sense of excitement and anticipation as I travelled to CoV was extreme. On arrival, it felt incredible to be surrounded by a community of like-minded researchers who were all there to share their knowledge and experiences (and hummus!). To be surrounded by the spectacular historic town of Heraklion and the volcanic landscape of Crete was the icing on the cake (or feta). The hybrid approach to the conference made it all the richer, aided by the fantastic tech support at the venue and an engaged audience on both sides of the screen.

I presented work undertaken as part of my PhD and part-funded by the Zeiss-GSL microscopy scholarship I was awarded in 2019. I was able to showcase our use of a correlative microscopy workflow that preserved and extracted as much information on vesicle and crystal textures as possible via 2D and 3D imaging of basalt-rhyolite mingled clasts from Ascension Island, South Atlantic. The other talks in my session provided invaluable insights into the techniques and practices being employed by researchers in my field, helping to place my own research into context of the global volcanological community.

I was particularly moved by the research and experiences shared surrounding the 2019 eruption of Whakaari / White Island and the long-term responses of scientists and communities in the aftermath of the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. Over the week I was able to immerse myself in both the physical and social aspects of volcanology thanks to the diverse and dynamic nature of the conference. A personal highlight was attending the outreach exchange and the announcement that UWISRC had won the IAVCEI 2022 Volcanic Surveillance and Crisis Management award for their incredible response to the 2020-21 eruption of La Soufrière St Vincent – there was not a dry eye on my row! My experiences at CoV in Crete provided the much-needed energy and inspiration to push my thesis across the finish line. I could not have done it without the support of the VMSG student travel bursary.

Emily Madoff: Henry Emeleus Fieldwork Award, 2022

An investigation into the emplacement, layering and syn-magmatic tectonics of the Ilímaussaq alkaline layered intrusion, South Greenland

Alkaline layered igneous intrusions, like Ilímaussaq, host Rare Earth Element (REE) deposits critical to the energy transition and the green economy. However, the genesis and layering mechanisms of alkaline intrusions responsible for the concentration of critical metals are hotly debated. Our research aims to resolve how alkaline intrusions form and evolve, improving the efficiency of REE exploration and extraction, allowing us to secure the critical metal supply chain to meet the ever-growing global demand for a greener future.

We completed a 6-week expedition to Ilímaussaq, including a short trip to the island of Tuttutooq where we studied more layered intrusions. The fieldwork comprised geological mapping and window mapping in areas of interest, with particular focus on mapping structural and textural features within the rocks. Informed by the mapping, localities with clear examples of layering were chosen for detailed stratigraphic logging and sampling. Interesting observations from the field include crosscutting relationships and variations in euhedral and stretched minerals within the lujavrites (an area with hypothesized faults and/or feeder zones within the literature), fabrics within the layered kakortokites oblique to the layering, and mineral textures within the kakortokites such as variations in poikioblastic textures. The maps, logs and samples are being used as the foundation for a combined field and rock magnetic study in order to assess the preserved rock fabric record and test its compatibility with previously proposed layering models, which to date have mostly been interrogated by geochemical and mineralogical data.

Our expedition team wild camped in a remote area for the full duration of the trip, allowing all team members to strengthen their outdoor skills and enjoy the peacefulness that comes with being detached from the outside world. Having now completed fieldwork in the Gardar Province, with incredible geology, landscapes and wildlife, it is easy to see why Henry Emeleus was so drawn to the region. It was a pleasure and honour to follow in his footsteps, and I look forward to contributing to our knowledge on this beautiful part of the world.

I would like to thank the VMSG for their support of this expedition, along with the Gino Watkins Memorial Fund, the Arctic Club, The Geological Society of London, the Society of Economic Geologists, CASP, the Hazel Prichard Student Bursary, and the Edinburgh Geological Society. Without this support the expedition would not have been possible. I will be presenting preliminary results from the study at VMSG 2023, so please come and chat!

Calling all volcanophile Early Career Researchers (ECRs)!

Do you enjoy discussing anything volcanic, whether magma generation in the deep Earth, sulfate aerosol coagulation in the stratosphere, volcanic risk communication and management, and volcanoes in far far away galaxies? Do you want to broaden your horizons in volcanology and network with an international community of fellow ECRs? Do you want to discuss your favorite topic in a pressure-free and friendly environment? We’ve got you covered with the ECR Volcanology Reading-Rendezvous: a journal discussion group created by, and run for, Early Career Researchers in Volcanology.

We aim to provide an accessible and inclusive platform for ECRs to come discuss new ideas, develop reviewing skills, and learn about new topics. We organize and run once-monthly discussions which focus on exploration of a new and/or keynote paper in any subject related to volcanology, with the discipline(s) involved changing every month. Meetings are usually held on the second Thursday of the month on Zoom, and last for 60 min. Two meetings are run: one adhering to Europe/Americas/Africa time zones, and one adhering to NZ/Australia/Asia timezones. Future meetings will also include practice sessions for mainstream conferences and career-development discussions.

To receive meeting details as they are released, you can sign up to our mailing list: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJnO0mb2QhUXttzCWGa5dpqasluoOgF8YTLWLtVWs0XdyWfw/viewform. In our next meeting, we’ll give the opportunity to anyone interested to practice conference talks (AGU and VMSG season!) and get feedbacks from the audience including the organizing committee. You can also read more about how our meetings work on our website (https://sites.google.com/view/ecrvolcan-rr/home) or on Twitter (@ECRVolcan_RR). Please feel free to distribute this email to those who may be interested. Also, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us either via Twitter, or by email (volcano.ecr@gmail.com). – The ECR Volcanology Reading-Rendezvous organizing committee

4th International Workshop: VWEDA

VMSG PhD studentship list

Here is a list of PhD studentships for the academic year 2022-23. The list includes funding source, host institution, and deadline for application. This list represents a lot of work and was kindly compiled by our Student Rep, Eilish Brennan. If you have a PhD that you would like to advertise that is not on this list, please email Eilish at eeebr@leeds.ac.uk.

Job round-up

Minerals Commodity Analyst at BGS

The BGS are seeking a minerals commodity analyst based at the BGS headquarters in Keyworth, Nottingham. The role will involve working with a small team of experts on data compilation, intelligence gathering and analysis on global and UK minerals markets. The position is an exciting opportunity to take a key role in the new UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (UK CMIC), which will support the UK in securing the supply of the minerals and metals it requires to ensure the success of the net zero transition, mitigate risks to national security, deliver economic prosperity and create opportunities for UK businesses in critical mineral supply chains domestically and internationally.

Full details of the job can be found here. The closing date for applications is Sunday 11th December.

Climate Impacts Modeller at Forest Research

Forest Research are seeking to appoint a Climate Impacts Modeller to undertake and support their Climate Change Research Group’s (CCRG) research on the resilience of commercial and native forestry species to future climate change. There will be a focus on applied research and modelling with an expectation to lead on modelling forest response to predicted climate change (UKCP18) scenarios. Evidence of experience in climate risk prediction demonstrable capability in mentoring junior staff and contribution to external research bids and collaboration. Data analysis skills should include data visualisation, and the applicant should have a track record of scientific publications, report writing, and peer-review are essential.

Full details of the job can be found here. The closing date for applications is Sunday 4th December.

Lecturer (Teaching) in Environmental Geosciences at UCL

The Department of Earth Sciences, UCL, are seeking a Lecturer (Teaching) to assist with delivery of their taught programmes, particularly in areas of environmental geoscience (including environmental geochemistry, applied environmental monitoring and mapping). Important components of the role would include designing and leading an environmental mapping module and fieldwork, and undertaking a strategic overview of environmental geosciences teaching in the department.

Full details of the position are available here. The closing date for applications is Sunday 1st January 2023.

Amended: Public Lecture at the Geological Society

We promoted this event in our previous newsletter, with its original date of Monday, 7th Nov 2022. Due to train strikes, the event has been rescheduled to Monday, 20th February 2023. Professor Jenni Barclay will give a public lecture at the Geological Society on, “The stories we tell about volcanoes, and why it matters when they erupt”. Her talk promises to “explore the role that narratives – or the stories that we tell of the causes and consequences of volcanic disasters– play in how scientists, decision-makers and communities make sense of these uncertain situations, and even how they influence actions”. Click here for the link to tickets via Eventbrite.

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

No. 54: August 2022

“There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.” – Kazuo Ishiguro

Editorial

Welcome to the VMSG Newsletter, Issue no. 54! This issue comes amid the blue skies and brown fields of late August, and we hope that you’ve had a chance to breathe and relax over the last few months of summer. While many of us have taken some much-needed time away, this issue is no less full than others. We bring news of the next VMSG annual meeting (in-person for the first time since 2020!), announcements of award and bursary winners, round-ups of relevant jobs and conferences, and a report from a previous VMSG bursary award-winner. We also invite you to contribute ideas for celebrating our upcoming 60th anniversary as a special interest group within the Geological Society. As ever, happy reading. – Ailsa Naismith

VMSG2023

It’s time to announce the next VMSG annual meeting! VMSG2023 will take place in Bloomsbury, London, on 4th – 6th January 2023, with a day of post-conference outreach activities at the Natural History Museum, in collaboration with the NHM Science Communication Team, on 7th January. VMSG2023 will be in hybrid format: delegates are most welcome to attend both in-person in London and through virtual means. The meeting is organized by local organizing committee Volcanologists of London (VoL), an informal group made up of people from the Natural History Museum, Birkbeck, University of London, UCL, Kings College London and Imperial College London.

The VMSG2023 meeting has a dedicated website: https://vmsg-2023.org. This site gives information on the scientific programme, registration and abstracts, local organizing committee, outreach activity, and meeting venue and logistics. Abstract submission opens on Monday 19th September and closes on Monday 31st October. Expressions of interest for the outreach activity close on Friday 30th September at 5:00 pm. More information on registration dates can be found on the website. – Volcanologists of London

VMSG Awards

We are thrilled to announce the 2022 winners of the Thermo-Fisher and Willy Aspinall Awards. Professor Eliza Calder has been awarded the Thermo-Fisher Award for her rich and wide-ranging contributions to many areas of volcanology over her career, and Dr. Matthew Head has been awarded the Willy Aspinall Award for his outstanding paper on crustal viscocity and volcanic deformation. Read more from our award-winners below. Huge congratulations to you both!

Eliza Calder (Thermo-Fisher Award)

The VMSG Committee voted for Professor Eliza Calder (University of Edinburgh) as the 2022 winner of the Thermo-Fisher VMSG Award, given annually to an individual “who is deemed to have made a significant contribution to our current understanding of volcanic and magmatic processes”. The committee wished to recognize Eliza’s diverse research outputs, significant community contributions, and the societal impact of her work; recognizing also that Eliza’s work speaks to the wide range of interests of the VMSG community and the sectors to which they contribute.

Eliza responds: “I am delighted to receive this award. I feel extremely privileged to have been able to work in amazing parts of the world, with inspiring colleagues and students on real-world problems in volcanology. Working with colleagues in volcano observatories, with issues related to volcanic hazard and risk, and with communities living around volcanoes is what has brought meaning to my work. The interdisciplinary work which I have become increasingly engaged in is both challenging and enlivening. It’s a test of intellectual openness and creativity, where we often have to work outside our comfort zone but I believe there are real gains to be made when and where we do this well. It’s a credit to the UK volcanology community that our value system is considerate of the diverse facets of a volcanology career.” The award will be bestowed to Eliza at the next annual VMSG meeting hosted in London in January 2023.

Matthew Head (Willy Aspinall Award)

Massive congratulations to Dr. Matthew Head (University of Illinois), who was chosen as the 2022 winner of the Willy Aspinall Award. This award is made annually to the lead author of an outstanding paper on applied volcanology or geoheritage published in English, who is within three years of their being awarded a PhD at a university in the UK. Matthew led authorship of “Exploring the Impact of Thermally Controlled Crustal Viscosity on Volcanic Ground Deformation”, using a series of thermo-viscoelastic Finite Element models to explore how variations in thermal constraints influence surface displacement patterns when using the Maxwell and Standard Linear Solid (SLS) viscoelastic configurations. Matthew’s article was published in the JGR Solid Earth journal. You can read Matthew’s award-winning work here!

Matthew says of his win: “I’m really pleased to be given the Willy Aspinall award in recognition of this paper, which formed part of my PhD. We show that different thermal conditions (magma temperature and background geothermal gradient) affect the rate and amplitude of ground displacements during magmatic unrest.” As part of his award, Matthew will be giving a keynote presentation at VMSG2023 in London next January.

IAVCEI Call for Nominations

IAVCEI recently opened their call for nominations to the 2023 George Walker Award and the Wager Medal, both to be bestowed at the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly in early 2023 in Rotorua, New Zealand. More information on the awards can be found here, and submission guidelines are available on the relevant IAVCEI Awards webpages (George Walker Award and Wager Medal). Applications are open until Saturday 8th October 2022.

We earnestly encourage you to nominate your colleagues! We would love to see and support a strong set of nominations from the VMSG community and to strengthen diversity of IAVCEI award nominees. Submission to these awards is our chance to act.

George Walker Award

The George Walker Award honors the memory of Professor George Walker (1926-2005), who pioneered a modern quantitative approach to physical volcanology and greatly accelerated the understanding of volcanic processes. The award recognizes the achievements of a recent outstanding graduate in the research disciplines within IAVCEI, or honours a recent graduate whose achievements in volcanology involved operating under difficult circumstances. Eligible nominees should be within 7 years of PhD acquisition (extended if maternity/paternity leave has been taken since awarding of the PhD).

Wager Medal

The Wager Medal honors the memory of Professor Lawrence Rickard Wager (1904-1965) of the University of Oxford, best known for the discovery of the Skaergaard layered intrusion and the first detailed structural, mineralogical, and petrological study of such intrusions. The Wager medal is given to a scientist up to 15 years after PhD acquisition (extended for maternity/paternity leave undertaken after award) who has made outstanding contributions to volcanology, particularly in the eight-year period prior to receiving the Medal.

VMSG Committee: invitation to join!

The VMSG Committee are accepting applications for two positions: Awards Officer and Student Representative. More information about each position appears below. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any of the current committee members to ask any questions about their roles and experiences on the committee: https://vmsg.org.uk/about/committee/ .

Awards Officer

The VMSG Committee are accepting applications for an Awards & Bursaries Officer. The appointment will be for 3 years and will start in October 2022. The role includes overseeing the range of awards and bursaries that the committee administers (details can be found on our website: awards and bursaries). We are currently completing an equality, diversity and inclusion audit of all our awards and bursaries, and the new Awards & Bursaries Officer will play an important role feeding into this process and lead implementing the outcomes.

If you are interested in applying, please submit a brief description about yourself, why you would like to take on this role and what you would bring to it (up to one A4 page) to the VMSG Secretary. Please also include a profile picture with your application. Applicants should have a PhD in the broad fields of volcanology and/or magmatic processes. In the case of multiple candidates for each post, the VMSG community members will vote online anonymously to elect candidates to the committee. They will be provided with the collated list of applicant statements and profile pictures.

Please forward this invitation to anyone you believe might be interested in this opportunity and encourage them to apply! The VMSG aims to provide a supportive environment where all in the community feel welcome and valued, and are keen to promote balance in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, geographical location, physical ability, sexual orientation and socioeconomic background. An important part of helping to achieve this aim to ensure that the VMSG committee fully reflects the diversity of our members.

Please send your application to the VMSG Secretary (Janine.Kavanagh@liverpool.ac.uk) with ‘VMSG Committee Awards & Bursaries Application’ in the email header. The deadline for applications is Friday 9th September. We look forward to receiving your applications! – Janine Kavanagh

Student Rep

We are now accepting applications for a new Student Rep to join the VMSG Committee. The appointment will start in October 2022 and last for 2 years, but in the first year you will shadow the outgoing Student Rep. Applicants for this position should be currently studying for a Masters degree, PhD or equivalent in the broad fields of volcanology and magmatic processes.

If you are interested in applying, please submit a brief description about yourself, why you would like to take on this role, and what you would bring to it (approximately half an A4 page) to the VMSG Secretary. Please also include a profile picture with your application.

The VMSG aims to provide a supportive environment where all in the community are welcome and valued, and are keen to promote balance in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, geographical location, physical ability, sexual orientation and socioeconomic background. An important part of helping to achieve this aim is to ensure that the VMSG committee fully reflects the diversity of our members. In the case of multiple candidates applying for the post, the VMSG community members will vote online and anonymously elect the applicant to the committee. They will be provided with a collated list of application texts and profile pictures.

Please send your application to the VMSG Secretary (Janine.Kavanagh@liverpool.ac.uk) with ‘Student Rep Application’ in the email header. The deadline for applications is Friday 16th September. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch to ask any questions about the role. – Janine Kavanagh

VMSG Bursary Winners

The VMSG Committee had a large and outstanding number of applications for the last round of Student Bursaries. We are thrilled to announce that we were able to provide bursaries to all applicants. Four successful awardees (Emma Horn (University of Southampton), Amy Myers (University College Dublin), Nicola Taylor (University of East Anglia), and Kate Williams (University of Liverpool)) will use the funds to attend the IAVCEI2023 Scientific Assembly in Rotorua, New Zealand; Annabelle Foster (University of Durham) plans to do fieldwork in Gran Canaria; and Ugur Balci (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre) will be supported to attend the Goldschmidt 2023 conference in Lyon, France. Congratulations to you all! – VMSG Committee

60 years of volcanological research!

The VMSG is approaching their 60th anniversary as a Special Interest Group within the Geological Society. The society was first formed as the Volcanic Studies Group (VSG) in February 1964, and we are planning a lot of celebrations in 2024. We would love to hear from you about your wildest and most colourful suggestions of how we should celebrate! So please get in touch via Twitter (@vmsg_uk) or to any of the committee members via email.

Royal Society archives

Dr. Jazmin Scarlett (University of East Anglia) has perused the Royal Society Archives to trace the formation of the VMSG. Minutes from previous meetings in 1964 appear in bold, and underneath Jazmin shares photos and transcripts that describe the formation of the new research group and its fledgling communications with the Volcanological Expeditions Committee (later the Volcanological Research Committee).

CMB/130/2 – Meeting of the Volcanological Expeditions Committee, 7th February 1964

Item 2: Geological Society Volcanic Studies Group

“It was reported that the Geological Society was considering establishing a Volcanic Studies Group and it was agreed that should such a group be set up, it would be advantageous if the Chairman were to be invited to meetings of the Vulcanological Expeditions Committee.”

Item 8: Volcanic Studies Group

“It was reported that a volcanic studies group had been formed in London ‘to bring together those actively engaged in the scientific study of volcanoes and their products, irrespective of the ages of the volcanoes or their localities, in order to promote full and rapid exchange of observations and conclusions, particularly concerning present-day subaerial and submarine volcanoes, and to encourage visits to sites of volcanic activity and to research centres mainly devoted to such studies.’ Dr A.T.J. Dollar, Birkbeck College, was Acting Secretary.”

CMB/130/3 – Meeting of the Volcanological Research Committee, 26th May 1965

Item 2: Name of Committee

“It was reported that at its meeting on 16 July 1964, Council had resolved that the name of the Committee be changed from Volcanological Expeditions Committee to Volcanological Research Committee without change in membership or Terms of Reference.”

Item 3: Volcanic Studies Group of the Geological Society of London

“With reference to minute 2 of 7 February 1964, it was reported that the Geological Society had now established a Volcanic Studies Group under the Chairmanship of Professor F.H. Stewart and in accordance with the suggestion made at the last meeting Professor Stewart had been invited to attend the meeting of the Volcanological Research Committee, but had been unable to do so. It was agreed to recommend to Council:

That – ‘Professor F.H. Stewart be invited to become an ex officio member of the Committee in his capacity as chairman of the Geological Society’s Volcanic Studies Group’.”

Conferences round-up

IAVCEI 2023: Rotorua, New Zealand, 30 Jan – 3 Feb 2023

This is your last chance to submit abstracts for the forthcoming IAVCEI Scientific Assembly! The meeting will be hosted in stunning Rotorua, New Zealand, on 30th Jan – 3rd Feb 2023. More information can be found on the official conference website at www.iavcei2023.org, which includes key information for early career researchers (ECRs). Abstract submission (here) and submissions to the ECR plenary sessions (here) both close on Friday 2nd September. We look forward to welcoming many of you early next year to beautiful New Zealand. – IAVCEI2023 Local Organizing Committee

IAVCEI2023 grants

IAVCEI is glad to announce the opening of the call for grants to participate in the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly in Rotorua, New Zealand. IAVCEI is inclusive to all of its members and aims to support members who would otherwise not be able to attend the conference.  Consideration for these grants prioritizes members who do not have access to their own conference funding, including, but not exclusive to, students and professional scientists from financially restricted countries. Because the number of grants is limited, the request needs to be accompanied by a motivation letter (why you need the grant). The requests must be sent to Roberto Sulpizio (IAVCEI Secretary General: Roberto.sulpizio@uniba.it) before Thursday 15th September 2022.

The grants are dedicated to IAVCEI members that have submitted at least one abstract as presenters (both physical or virtual). A typical grant will cover registration for the meeting. A small number of travel grants will be available for applicants from far countries. – IAVCEI Secretariat

IUGG2023

The 28th assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) will be hosted in Berlin on 11th – 20th July 2023. IAVCEI will be one of the nine scientific programme committees (SPCs) in attendance. More information will appear closer to the date on the official conference website: https://www.iugg2023berlin.org/.

Cities on Volcanoes 12

It was announced at the Cities on Volcanoes 11 conference (held in Heraklion, Crete, in June 2022) that the next installment of Cities on Volcanoes will be held in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, on 11th – 17th February 2024. This will be the first CoV conference held in Central America and also the first bilingual CoV conference (in English and Spanish). An early public-facing webpage is available here. A second commercial website and the first conference circular are expected in early 2023. Inquiries may be directed to cov12antigua@gmail.com. The Local Organizing Committee write:

“Guatemala is a volcanic nation. The strong relationship that exists between the activity of its volcanoes and the communities settled around them has been recorded and represented through paintings and drawings dating back to the 17th century.

Antigua Guatemala, a colonial city founded in 1543, will be the ideal place to host the 12th edition of Cities on Volcanoes (COV12) in February 2024. Its history, and that of the rest of southern Guatemala, is totally connected to volcanoes. Today, Antigua Guatemala is not the capital of Guatemala, but it is a vibrant, touristic and beautiful city. It is located between Fuego and Agua volcanoes and is a short distance from the capital city (Guatemala City) and Pacaya volcano. Antigua is spectacularly preserved as a colonial city and deserves its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its cobblestone streets and its strong culture (shaped by volcanic and seismic activity since its inception) are perfect for exploring. All amenities, including the conference venue, a variety of hotels, restaurants and the central park, will be easily accessible by foot. We are planning COV12 to be a full week of activities, including daytime and evening events, as well as mid-conference field trips.

Our mission for this conference is the fusion of diverse communities, which can generate exchange of information and promote activities related to risk mitigation and resilience. We believe that it is the perfect opportunity for Central American countries to participate in and contribute to one of the most important events of the volcanology social science community, which for the first time will be in a bilingual format. We are delighted that COV12 is accessible to diverse participants from the region and beyond.

On behalf of the local organizing committee, we invite you to participate in COV12 in Antigua Guatemala in February 2024.” – Carla M. Chun Q. y Amilcar E. Roca P.

Job round-up

3.5 year PDRA at University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham is currently advertising for a PDRA to join the new NERC-NSF Large Grant “C-FORCE”, which will measure how the global carbon cycle responded from start to finish during a past period of global warming that was driven by volcanic emissions of carbon-based greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The opportunity would suit someone with research experience that can be related to observing and/or modelling volcanic processes and associated greenhouse gas emissions.

The full job advert is here. The deadline for applications is Sunday 4th September. If you have any questions about the post, please contact Steve Jones (s.jones.4@bham.ac.uk).

Minerals Commodity Analyst at BGS

The British Geological Survey is seeking a permanent appointment for a minerals commodity analyst based at the BGS headquarters in Keyworth, Nottingham. This is a full-time appointment for a role within a small team of experts. The successful candidate will work on data compilation, intelligence gathering and analysis on global and UK minerals, and on metals markets within the new UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (UK CMIC). The candidate should have a suitable post-graduate qualification and 2 – 3 years of relevant postgraduate experience.

Find the full job advert here. The applications deadline is Sunday 4th September.

Collections Assistant at the Sedgwick Museum

The Sedgwick Museum is seeking to appoint someone with good rock and mineral identification skills and an interest in working with museum collections to join their friendly team. The role is initially a 12-month fixed-term contract; extension is possible dependent on funding. The new person will work to facilitate researcher and student access to the Museum’s petrology and mineralogy collections and contribute to migration of the museum’s petrological collections into a new purpose built store.

Further information may be found at https://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/34911/. To have an informal conversation about this role, please contact the Collections Manager, Dan Pemberton dsp30@cam.ac.uk. Enquires about the application procedure should be directed to Jane Hart jane@esc.cam.ac.uk. The application deadline is Sunday 11th September.

Geochemistry Technician at Newcastle University

Newcastle University is seeking to appoint a full-time technician who will provide technical support for the analysis of lake and ocean sediment cores in different palaeoenvironmental projects. The technician’s responsibilities will include sample preparation for stable isotope analysis of bulk sediments, invertebrate remains, and biomarkers, including faecal sterols, bile acids, and leaf waxes. The successful candidate will work to ensure that sample procedures are carried out safely and in accordance with quality standards and health and safety regulations.

Further information can be found here. For informal enquiries contact Maarten van Hardenbroek (maarten.vanhardenbroek@newcastle.ac.uk) or Andy Henderson (andrew.henderson@newcastle.ac.uk). The application deadline is Sunday 11th September.

Celebrations!

We love to celebrate members of our community: this section is a regular quarterly of celebrations including PhD vivas. If you have one to contribute to a future newsletter, please get in touch with Ailsa Naismith (ailsa.naismith@bristol.ac.uk).

Dr Rachel Whitty

A huge congratulations to the Leeds Volcanologists’ newest doctor, Dr Rachel Whitty, who passed her Viva in July. Rachel presented her thesis, “Characterising downwind particulate and sulfur dioxide air pollution from volcanic emissions”; you can find out more about her research here. We wish her the most explosive future and that she has every success going forward.

VMSG Student bursary report: Rami Alshembari

Attending the EGU2022 general assembly in Vienna, 23-27 May 2022

After two years of virtual meetings, I am very grateful for my VMSG bursary, which allowed me to attend my first in-person EGU22 General Assembly in Vienna to present my PhD work on exploring the mechanical influence of mush poroelasticity on volcanic surface deformation in a special session, “Volcanic processes: Tectonics, Deformation, geodesy, unrest”.

I had the opportunity to give a 7-minute oral presentation in this session. The work I presented explores the role of magma poroelasticity in the development of volcano deformation – a new direction for the volcano geodesy field. In my presentation, I show the influence of poroelastic mechanical behaviour on reservoir pressure evolution and resultant spatio-temporal surface deformation. My study suggests that modelling the magmatic reservoir as a poroelastic crystal mush rather than a 100% melt magma reservoir can significantly modify the resulting spatial and temporal mechanical evolution of the system. In my talk, I showed that our models suggest that post-injection and post-eruption inflation could occur, which are linked to a poroelastic response associated with continuous melt diffusion. Following an injection/eruption, a steady-state point is eventually achieved when the fluid pressure reaches a uniform value throughout the reservoir.

My attendance at EGU has given this work, and the forthcoming paper, necessary exposure. This is the first time I have presented this work to a conference audience. Following my presentation, I received positive feedback on my talk and a constructive discussion with the participants.

Attending the EGU in person has allowed me to hold vital conversations with other researchers, share my research results, and gain new collaborators, all of which are indispensable to my remaining doctoral studies and future goals. Moreover, participating in the EGU in person allowed me to develop professional connections with other scientists interested in volcano deformation and volcanic unrest, who could benefit from my work.

Once again, thanks for the VMSG Travel Bursary, which alleviated a big part of the financial burden of attending EGU and made this trip possible. – Rami Alshembari (University of Exeter)

Public Lecture at the Geological Society

Professor Jenni Barclay will give a public lecture at the Geological Society on Monday 7th November 2022 on, “The stories we tell about volcanoes, and why it matters when they erupt”. Her talk promises to “explore the role that narratives – or the stories that we tell of the causes and consequences of volcanic disasters– play in how scientists, decision-makers and communities make sense of these uncertain situations, and even how they influence actions”. Click here for the link to tickets via Eventbrite.

Internships

Do you have any information on international volcanology internships that you would like to share with the VMSG community? Then please get in touch! We would love to share opportunities in this area with members of our community seeking field experience. We particularly welcome information on sources of funding that support said opportunities. If you have information to share, please write to Ed McGowan (egm8@leicester.ac.uk).

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

No. 53: May 2022

“I never make stupid mistakes. Only very, very clever ones.” – John Peel

Editorial

Dear all, welcome to the spring 2022 VMSG newsletter. This issue opens with a reflection on our common identity and goals as volcanologists. We’ve placed this item at front and centre as we feel it aligns with our ethos: it’s deeply important the VMSG is an open and welcoming group to all. Further on in this issue, we’re broadening our horizons as we take a look at conferences around the world. Culture vultures can feast on a book review, a science festival in rude health, and an explosive film premiere. Elsewhere, get motivated with a job round-up and call for VMSG awards and student bursaries. As ever, hope you enjoy. – Ailsa Naismith

Volcanologists: who are we and where are we going?

The past few months have seen a series of perspective pieces published in the Bulletin of Volcanology, in the Topical Collection ‘Looking Backwards and Forwards in Volcanology: A Collection of Perspectives on the Trajectory of a Science’. Following an open call for contributions from guest editors Kathy Cashman, Jon Fink and Freysteinn Sigmundsson, there are currently 27 articles that have been published, covering a huge range of themes in volcanology. One article is focused on the volcanologists themselves rather than the science they conduct.

In “Volcanologists—who are we and where are we going?”, Kavanagh et al. compiled data from memberships of international volcanology organisations (IAVCEI, AGU and EGU), positions on volcanology committees, volcanology awards (including the VMSG Thermo-Fisher award), keynote talks, editorial boards and lead-authorship on volcanology papers. The paper also collected new qualitative data on discrimination that members of the volcanology community have experienced or witnessed, with quotes from an online ethics-approved survey presented alongside maps, graphs and tables which quantify the lack of diversity in the international volcanology community.

Figure 1 of the paper shows IAVCEI membership and gender distribution in 2021.

The data show discrimination related to gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability and socio-economic background is occurring, and that the intersection of these discriminations further exacerbates marginalisation within the volcanology community. The lead author of the study, Janine Kavanagh, told us that the article had been inspired in part by the equality, diversity and inclusion work that the VMSG committee had done with the previous Chair Sally Gibson, such as the EDI report led by Sam Engwell in 2020 and the online panel discussions led by Jenni Barclay in response to the #blacklivesmatter protests in 2020.

Call for VMSG awards & student bursaries

There is still time to submit nominations to the VMSG’s Willy Aspinall and Thermo-Fisher Awards. The awards recognize, respectively, the lead author of an outstanding paper on applied volcanology and an individual who has made a significant contribution to our understanding of volcanic and magmatic processes. More information is available for both nominations here: Willy Aspinall Award and Thermo-Fisher Award. Please note that these awards cannot be self-nominated, so we particularly encourage senior and/or busy members of our community to nominate others. Please send nominations to the VMSG Awards Officer (nick.gardiner@st-andrews.ac.uk) by the deadline of Monday 6^th June.

In addition to awards, the summer round of VMSG student bursaries is now open! These bursaries are for student members to cover fieldwork or conference expenses. The deadline is Monday 20^th June. Find more details here.

The Geological Society – President’s Day

The VMSG’s parent society, the Geological Society, invites you to a series of special events on President’s Day, Wednesday 8^th June. This day of events includes the Annual General Meeting (AGM), Society Awards and the Wollaston Medallist Lecture. All details below.

President’s Day, 8 June 2022: AGM, Society Awards and Wollaston Medallist Lecture

Annual General Meeting – 11:00-12:30 (BST). Fellows receive reports from Officers and Geoscientist’s Editor-in-Chief and formally approve the 2021 Annual Accounts and the new Council members elected in the preliminary ballot. All Geological Society Fellows and Student Members are welcome to attend so please register by 6^th June 2022 to receive the papers and joining details.

Society Awards – 16:00-17:15 (BST). Join us to celebrate the 2022 Society Award winners’ achievements and contribution to the geoscience community. Register for free here.

Wollaston Medallist Lecture – 17:30-18:30 (BST). Professor Emeritus Tanya Atwater, geophysicist and marine geologist best known for creating the first magnetic isochron map of the northeast Pacific Ocean, will share her experiences and insights into the history of the plate revolution. All are welcome so please register here for this free virtual lecture. – Christina Marron

Conferences Round-up!

EGU: Vienna, Austria & online, 23 – 27 May 2022

The virtual conference centre of EGU 2022.

The 2022 General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) was held in late May in a hybrid format between Vienna and online. The conference gathered scientists from around the globe to discuss all kinds of topics in the disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. Members of the VMSG were in attendance in groups such as GMPV (Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology, and Volcanology). In case you missed it, find out about the event by searching the hashtag “#EGU22” on Twitter.

Cities on Volcanoes 11: Heraklion, Crete & online, 12 – 17 June 2022

Cities on Volcanoes 11 (COV11) will take place in hybrid format on 12 – 17 June 2022, between the Cultural Conference Centre of Heraklion, Crete, and online. Participants will discuss many parts of volcanology under the theme of “Volcanoes and Society: environment, health, and hazards”. The conference will be focused on multidisciplinary monitoring of volcanic environments in the vicinity of cities and highly touristic areas. At the same time, the ability to recognize volcanic hazards and their impact on people, emergency management by civil protection authorities, community education, case studies, and risk mitigation to reduce the impacts of volcanism and its effects on society will undoubtedly be discussed. Participants shouldn’t miss the opportunity to visit Knossos (a Bronze Age archaeological site) and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum (one of Europe’s most important museums, covering over 5500 years of the island’s history). Additionally, we will organize several field trips, including to Methana, Santorini, Psiloritis UNESCO Global Geopark, and Milos. We are also ready to provide high-quality virtual access to participants experiencing travel restrictions. COV11 will occur in hybrid format in order to enable the maximum number of interested members to participate.

Visit the Official CoV11 website here to find out more information about the Plenary Speakers, the complete Scientific Program , Virtual Access to the conference, and much more! – CoV Organising Committee

AGU Chapman Conference: Flagstaff, Arizona, 19 – 23 September 2022

The AGU Chapman conference on Distributed Volcanism and Distributed Volcanic Hazards will be held in Flagstaff, Arizona, on 19 – 23 September 2022.  Abstracts can be submitted here. Submission is open until Tuesday 7^th June at 23:59 EDT (04:59 BST on Wednesday 8th June). More information is available here.

IAVCEI 2023: Rotorua, New Zealand, 30 Jan – 3 Feb 2023

Please save the date for the forthcoming IAVCEI Scientific Assembly! This meeting will be hosted in stunning Rotorua, New Zealand, on 30 Jan – 3 Feb 2023. The call for abstracts will be launched and registration will open in early June, so keep your eyes peeled. Interested people can find out more on the official conference website at www.iavcei2023.org, which includes key information for early career researchers (ECRs). We look forward to welcoming many of you early next year to beautiful New Zealand. – IAVCEI2023 Local Organizing Committee

Hawai’ian Adventures: VMSG Bursary Report

August 2020: COVID was rife, everyone was fed up and my trip to Hawaii was officially cancelled. Fast forward 18 months and something that had seemed like it was never going to happen became a reality! I had FINALLY made it to Hawaii (in one piece I might add)!

Starting in January 2022, as part of my NERC SPITFIRE DTP studentship at the University of Southampton, I began a 4-month research placement at the University of Hawai’i. The placement consisted of a physical volcanology project investigating tephra dispersal from Fissure 8 during the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption. Whilst my subsistence and living costs were covered by the DTP, funding had to be sourced for any research costs. I am eternally grateful to VMSG for contributing funds towards this phenomenal fieldwork opportunity.

The project, supervised by Professor Bruce Houghton, involved three fieldtrips to the Big Island of Hawai’i to carry out field measurements of the tephra around Ahu’aila’au (the Fissure 8 cone) with the aim of characterising the transport and deposition of the widespread tephra deposit of Fissure 8. At each measurement location (57 in total) the thickness of the deposit and dimensions of the largest clasts were measured alongside in-field grainsize analysis of the coarse clasts. Representative samples of the finer clasts were collected and taken back to the University of Hawai’i for further grainsize analysis. Many of the techniques used within this project were completely new to me before the trip so I am extremely appreciative of Professor Houghton and the University of Hawai’i for teaching me all they did.

Since returning from the field, I have created an isopach map, carried out the remaining grainsize analysis, and done some modelling. My results are currently being written up as a manuscript to share with the volcanology community, so keep your eyes peeled.

Alongside learning numerous new techniques and carrying out fieldwork (which I have been unable to do in my PhD research area due to geopolitical issues), I was also able to participate in the graduate explosive volcanism course at the University of Hawai’i and activities within the research group. This gave an extra side to the placement experience by further developing my knowledge and skillset as well as getting to meet some amazing people.

When I first learnt about volcanoes at school, Kilauea was one of the case studies. I’ve since taught upcoming geography and geology students about the Hawai’ian volcanoes so it was a dream come true to go and carry out research there. Mahalo VMSG. – Emma Watts

Job round-up

We have included below a short, non-exhaustive list of current vacancies.

Micro-CT Lab Manager

The post holder will manage the Natural History Museum’s micro-CT laboratory, with responsibilities including facility development, operation of micro-CT instrumentation, and data processing for visitors and customers. The role involves management of a dynamic laboratory, training users to a high level of skill and conducting research relevant to micro-CT. Closing date Wednesday 15^th June 2022. More details here.

Lecturer in Environmental Geoscience

The University of Leicester’s School of Geography, Geology & the Environment is seeking appointment of a Lecturer in Environmental Geoscience. The successful candidate will ideally bring knowledge in spatial analysis and/or big data and will join a flourishing school with a growing body of work at the interface with sustainability and environmental issues. Closing date is Tuesday 5^th July 2022. More details here.

Hydrogeochemist

The British Geological Survey (BGS) is seeking a hydrogeochemist to join their team. Role responsibilities include contributions to current projects in hydrogeochemical applications to subsurface geothermal development, characterisation of baseline groundwater chemistry and groundwater pollution assessments. Activities will involve groundwater sampling, interpretation of hydrogeochemical data, contributing to technical reports, and communication with collaborators and clients. Closing date is Friday 3^rd June 2022. More details here.

Book review: Supervolcanoes

We are pleased to publish a book review from two of our members, Dawid Rybak and Kate Williams. Dawid and Kate read Supervolcanoes: What They Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond, written by Dr. Robin George Andrews and published by W. W. Norton & Company. Our reviewers eloquently share below what they thought:

“This book is a narrative that allows rigorous scientific minds to go on a journey of discovery using stories portrayed through the lens of individual researchers, multidisciplinary teams and scientific debate. The author pulled enough scientific ingredients for all earth scientists to play around, juggle and have fun hypothesising about earthly and planetary evolution, and what role volcanoes play within these.

When starting to read this book, the expectation is that the focus and interest will be centered on terrestrial volcanism and famous supervolcanoes such as Kilaeua Volcano and Yellowstone. In fact, the lack of focus on this is a credit to the author. Instead it leaves the reader in awe of the connections between planetary-scale geological phenomena, atmospherics and existence of life. The later chapters are where this book comes to life, with the otherworldly nature of the volcanism on Io and Enceladus overshadowing the previous chapters, particularly ice volcanoes and volcanoes that can alter the tilt of a planet.

The freedom with which this book has been written rejuvenates the pure scientific spirit and provides an escape from the minute details of a researcher’s life, reminding us why our research matters and how it contributes to scientific exploration. This book is a great introductory book to complex concepts, and would be a fantastic way to encourage new scientists to begin their own journeys into volcanology.” – Dawid Rybak & Kate Williams

Please note that Dawid and Kate provided this review without compensation. However, the publishers are pleased to offer VMSG members an exclusive discount. To order Super Volcanoes: What they Reveal about Earth and the Worlds Beyond at a special member discount of 30% please click here and add the code WN001 when prompted at the checkout.

Pint Of Science: 10 year special!

Fire on Film

The London showing of the international Sundance Film Festival will take place at Picturehouse Central on 9 – 12 June 2022. This year’s festival includes the UK premiere of “FIRE OF LOVE”. The film’s story follows two French volcanologists who embark on a love story that will get them killed. Many volcanologists will know the couple Maurice and Katia Krafft: this film shows the subject of their shared passion through explosive imagery never before seen.

We’re thrilled to offer the VMSG network discounted tickets to the UK premiere. By simply entering the voucher code SFL10000000015040 at the checkout of the Picturehouse website, you can receive a £10 ticket (normally £17.20). – John-Paul Pierrot

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).

No. 52: March 2022

“People have the power to redeem the work of fools.” – Patti Smith

Editorial

Good morning, good evening, and welcome to another VMSG newsletter. In the midst of an uncertain world, we are happy to invite you over the threshold. Please come in! Take your shoes off and exchange for a pair of comfy house slippers, and settle down for a cheerful read. This quarter brings well wishes from our new VMSG Chair, Prof. Tamsin Mather, and a farewell from outgoing Chair, Prof. Sally Gibson. Our main item is the wildly successful vVMSG conference, hosted online by the University of Manchester in early January. We celebrate our registrants who signed in from all over the world, champion our prize winners, and share our newly-hatched mentoring scheme. There’s even a juicy movie review! Beyond vVMSG2022, we look at international volcanological internships and talk about an exciting new collab. Read it and weep (with joy). – Ailsa Naismith

Welcome from our new Chair

Welcome to our first VMSG newsletter of 2022! VMSG is a community very close to my heart, having been my first introduction to the vibrant group of volcano- and magma-philes based in the UK and Ireland about 20 years ago. It is a great honour to take over from Sally as Chair – she will be a hard act to follow! The virtual VMSG meeting held ‘in’ Manchester has already been a highlight of my year and I have huge gratitude to all involved in making it happen, especially the Local Organising Committee. Although we were sad not to meet in person there were also opportunities from the virtual experience, including drawing in expertise internationally; for example, for the very stimulating panel discussions, and taking a virtual field trip to the Moon. The story of the seatbelt basalt gave me the sense that the astronauts understood a geologist’s tendency to lust after that last interesting looking rock even with all the distractions of being literally out of this world – it’s a powerful emotion! I also really enjoyed participating in the inaugural buddy program and hope that many of you also found this a useful opportunity to make new connections. We are extremely hopeful that next year we will be able to return to meeting in person and are excited about this prospect; but we hope to take some of the benefits that we have learnt from virtual meetings into the future also. In any case as we look forward to the year ahead and wonder what it might hold, I am very grateful to be part of such a dedicated committee and energetic community. – Tamsin Mather

Farewell from Sally

Special Feature: vVMSG2022

vVMSG2022 was a resounding success! We were thrilled to have a whopping 405 registrants and an excellent crop of talks and posters. We were super impressed by the quality of this year’s entries. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Local Organizing Committee at the University of Manchester (David Neave, Margaret Hartley, and Brendan McCormick Kilbride), who put together an amazing and stimulating conference. Thanks also go to all presenters, who produced outstanding work. And a huge thanks to all those who participated! – VMSG Committee

Registration Statistics

We were thrilled to repeat the international flavour of vVMSG2021 by welcoming registrants from all around the world. vVMSG2022 received people from a huge range of countries, career stages, genders, and sexualities, and inclusion of people identifying as disabled and/or neurodivergent. Of the 405 registrants, 367 attended from all six permanently inhabited continents: 324 from Europe, 7 from Africa, 2 from North America, 8 from Asia, 10 from South America, and 16 from Australasia. Especial thanks go to those who attended the conference from very different time zones. In 2023, perhaps we can have someone tuning in from Antarctica?!

Hello world!

We want the VMSG community to be diverse and welcoming to all. The pie chart below shows the wide mix of ethnicities who attended vVMSG2022. – Jazmin Scarlett

Student Prize Winners

Annika Voight (University of Oxford) won the Bob Hunter Prize for Best Student Talk. Her talk, “Experimental investigation of trachydacite magma storage prior to the 1257 eruption of Mt Samalas”, was recognised for its outstanding quality. Holly Unwin (Lancaster University) and Pip Liggins (University of Cambridge) received Honourable Mentions for their talks on “Tracking volcanic conduit wall stability during evolution of the Mule Creek Vent, USA” and “The fingerprints of volcanism: secondary atmospheres on rocky planets”, respectively.

Annika smiling in front of a lil’ volcano – well done!

Annabelle Foster (Durham University) won the Geoff Brown Prize for Best Student Poster with her excellent contribution, “Explosive textures found in rhyolitic lava, Hrafntinnuhryggur, Iceland”. Laura Wainman (University of Cambridge) and Alice Paine (University of Oxford) received Honourable Mentions for their entries on “The climatic impact of the 1257 Samalas eruption” and “Why lacustrine mercury records may not be good records of large volcanic eruptions”, respectively.

Annabelle, winner of the Best Student Poster prize – congrats!

VMSG Award

In August, we were pleased to announce Dr. Dan Morgan as the winner of the ThermoFisher Scientific VMSG Award for 2022, for his contributions across a distinguished career in the fields of igneous petrology, mineralogy, and isotope geoscience (find a summary of his work here). Dan was presented with his award at vVMSG2022 and gave a keynote talk titled, “”Diffusion methods in volcanic petrology: where have we come from and where are we going?”. Congratulations to Dan for a very well-directed talk!

Zeiss Postdoctoral Keynote Award

We recently announced that Dr. Penny Wieser is the award winner of the VMSG Zeiss Postdoctoral Award. Penny is a postdoc at Oregon State University and soon-to-be Assistant Professor of Igneous Petrology & Volcanology at UC Berkeley. A summary of her work can be found here. At January’s vVMSG2022 Penny gave an invited keynote presentation for her winning abstract on ‘Thermobar: an open-source Python3 tool for thermobarometry’. Thermobar, which can be found here, is a user friendly open-source tool allowing for rapid assessment of mineral-mineral or mineral-melt equilibrium and subsequent pressure-temperature calculations. – Eilish Brennan

VMSG Buddy Scheme

At vVMSG 2022, we trialled a new conference buddy scheme in response to suggestions made at our open PhD and ECR forums at vVMSG 2021. Members of the VMSG community had the opportunity to sign up for the buddy scheme upon registration, either as a Junior Buddy (who hadn’t previously attended a VMSG conference) or as a Senior Buddy (more experienced conference goers). Buddies were then encouraged to connect with each other both before and during the conference, including giving feedback on presentations where relevant. Feedback from the buddies was really positive, particularly in helping to foster social engagement during the online format. For example, one of our junior buddies commented: “It was nice to also have a social interaction with someone new which is something I really miss compared to in-person conferences.” 50 people took part in the scheme this year, and we encourage the community to volunteer as a senior buddy next year. One of our senior buddies said, “I think it’s a rewarding experience for the senior buddy and I would have appreciated having one when I was getting started with VMSG!”. Feel free to get in touch with any extra comments on how we might best evolve this scheme next year, when we will hopefully meet in person again! – Claire Harnett

Presentation Feedback

We are really pleased to note we had 57 students that requested individual feedback on their conference talks and posters! We really feel this is a friendly environment where presenters can seek and receive supportive and constructive feedback. – VMSG Committee

Airplane vs Volcano: the VMSG 2022 Film Guide

“Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring”. So said Johnny Cash.

I love volcanoes. I love disaster movies. This one has a ring of volcanoes which trap an airliner. The Venn diagram here should be working in my favour. When this film was announced as the VMSG2022 film night showing, my wife and I popped some popcorn, and sat down for (*checks IMDB*) 131 minutes of rollercoaster. And, let me be honest, it felt like at least 131 minutes. You know how sometimes you start a film and you get absorbed and engrossed then the credits roll and you pop out the other side wondering where your evening has gone?  This is not that film.

That’s not to say it isn’t fun. It hits all the classic disaster movie tropes: the scientist no one believes, the isolated expert, the authoritarian military leader, the rogue who doesn’t follow orders, the passenger who has to fly the plane. It’s all tied together with some not bad special effects, and both the acting and cinematography are a step up from what you sometimes come to expect from these kinds of things.

I think the best compliment I can give this film is that I was able to sit back and munch my popcorn and merrily ride along with it. But oh my, the script. I’ll let an excerpt from one of the opening scenes speak for the film:

“Massive amounts of pressure are forcing submerged volcanoes to come to the surface, Colonel. This is only the beginning. And it’s only gonna get worse.”

Don’t get me wrong – the plot is bad too. It has holes that you could drop a volcano into – that you could drop a whole ring of volcanoes into. I won’t spoil what little plot there is, because you SHOULD watch this film. If only for the occasional, healthy, grounding realisation we all need; that no matter how much time, effort, and research funding we collectively put into improving our understanding of volcanic processes and hazards, we may as well be rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic as far as the disaster movie industry is concerned. And long may that continue. – Pete Rowley

Internships Call-out!

The VMSG Committee are planning to put together a list of international internships focussed on volcanology and magmatic studies. This is to support younger members of our community find new opportunities for practical work experience. If you know of an internship scheme, program or opportunity that you think fits this profile, please get in touch! Contact Ed McGowan at egm8@leicester.ac.uk . – Ed McGowan

Volcán de Colima, taken by Lucia Capra.

GeoCoLab: working towards equity in analytic geoscience research

Dr Rebecca Williams (Geology, University of Hull) led a Hackathon team who participated in NERC’s Digital Technologies to Open Up Environmental Sciences Digital Sprint over a three week period in September 2021. The team investigated EDI issues in analytical geoscience including an analysis of journal articles that underpin a global geochemical database, and an international survey of geoscience researchers. The team concluded that parachute science is observed in analytical geoscience, and this leads to inequities in published research. Of interest to the VMSG community is that this analysis focussed on the PetDB database of igneous geochemistry. The survey suggests that some groups have preferential access to analytical facilities and associated funding and that those with minority identities in the UK and those from the Global South are more likely to be excluded from access to analytical facilities. This ‘analytical facilities access gap’ negatively affects success and retention in research, impacting diversity in geoscience.

During the hackathon, the team developed a proto app – GeoCoLab. This is an online collaborative platform that ‘matchmakes’ under-served Geoscience researchers (e.g., unfunded ECRs, minority researchers, those from the Global South) who need access to analytical services with Collaborating Laboratory facilities who have agreed to offer a quota of pro-bono services. The aim of the app is to close the access gap, leading to greater equity in geoscience research.

GeoCoLab has been awarded funding from NERC’s EDI Digital Sprint funding call to develop and launch the app, and to expand the EDI research on parachute science in analytical geoscience and the analytical facilities access gap. The team includes researchers from the Universities of Derby, Aberdeen and Newcastle, the British Geological Survey, the Natural History Museum and two PDRAs at Hull.

If you run a laboratory or analytical facility and would be interested in partnering with the project, you can find out more on our GitHub. We’d also love to hear about individual experiences via our survey on the impacts of analytical access (or lack thereof) on research careers which is still open for responses here. To stay up to date with what we’re up to as the project develops, follow us @GeoCoLab on Twitter. – Rebecca Williams

Any Other Business?

Stay in touch!

Don’t forget to keep in touch with us and other volcanologists around the world. There are several ways you can do this: through the VMSG PhD and ECR directory (here), the Arizona State University mailing list (here), and the VMSG mailing list (here).