Welcome! 

I study the dynamics and impacts of volcanic flows and submarine eruptions.

Volcanic eruptions create and transform the Earth’s surface. They have enormous destructive power and are common. Typically, more than twelve volcanoes erupt on Earth at any time. My research is centered on understanding how volcanic flows work, especially those originating from submarine vents. To do that, I integrate experimental, observational, and analytical data to develop testable and physics-based models for volcanic flows. Ultimately, my goal is to be able to predict how far, how fast, and in what direction volcanic material will go. Understanding the dynamics of volcanic flows is critical for forecasting volcanic hazards, linking deposits to the processes that form them, and understanding how the products of volcanic eruptions interact with other Earth systems.

There are challenges associated with developing a quantitative understanding of volcanic flows. Many volcanic flows are complex mixtures of multiple phases of material (e.g., rock and gas) that interact. Volcanic flows are also affected by their surroundings, such as when volcanic products enter water or intersect a valley or mountain. In addition, many processes and phenomena are difficult to directly observe because volcanic flows can be opaque, hazardous, or occur in hard-to-access places like the deep ocean. These are a few fundamental challenges my work addresses through experimentation, modeling, and observation.  

I am an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt’s EES Department prides itself on close and enthusiastic collaboration between students and faculty.  

News:

04.16.2014 - PhD student Sarah Ward will be an AAAS Mass Media Fellow hosted at the MIT Technology Review this summer. Her fellowship is sponsored by AGU. I look forward to learning more about science communication through Sarah's experience this summer!

03.23.2024 - Congratulations, Liam Kelly, for receiving a 2024 Vanderbilt Provost's Pathbreaking Discovery Award for his recent work on Hunga Volcano and Nishinoshima Volcano! 

10.20.2023 - Nadia McGlynn, VU EES senior and group member, was awarded first place for her poster presentation at the 2023 National Association of Black Geoscientists annual meeting in Washington, DC. Congratulations Nadia!

09.01.2023 - Edgar Carrillo and Sarah Ward successfully defended their MS theses at Fisk and Vanderbilt Universities. Congratulations and on to the PhD!

01.15.2023 - A belated link to VU postdoc Ashok Gupta's recent article on the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption. He worked hard to investigate the timeline and characteristics of the umbrella clouds and found that there were not one, but two, umbrellas at 17 and 31 km on January 15, 2022. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00606-3 

11.07.2022 - I am recruiting a postdoc to work with me, Ralf Bennartz (VU), and Tushar Mittal (Penn State) to study the atmospheric expressions and impacts of submarine eruptions using satellite remote sensing. Read more and apply here: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/postdoc/position-detail/?id=687 

02.02.2022 -  A nice news article on the January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00394-y

11.06.2021 - A new paper by lead author Sam Mitchell is out! It shows that there are two different microtextural controls on pumice floatation: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00445-021-01497-6

09.12.2021 - A big welcome to Sarah Ward and Mikkel Louis as the join the lab group.

04.15.2021 - Congrats to Victoria Vuong and Marina Qian for being awarded VUSRP fellowships to study marine volcanic ash with me this summer!

02.08.2021 -   I'm excited to have been awarded beamtime at Lawrence Berkeley's Advanced Light Source! Time to get that pumice ready to scan. Fingers crossed that covid allows for an in person visit in the fall.

12.16.2020 -   AGU talks are all recorded this year and the benefit is that they are easy to share. I've put mine here:).

12.10.2020 -   A belated welcome and congratulations on finishing their first semesters as part of the Fauria research group to Liam Kelly, Marina Qian, and Victoria Vuong!

11.26.2020 - Check out an announcement about newly funded work by NASA to study the surface and atmospheric expressions of submarine volcanoes: news.vanderbilt.edu/2020/11/18/nasa-funded-project-uses-images-from-space-to-study-underwater-volcanoes/ 

11.20.2020 - Thank you University of Cincinnati Department of Geology for hosting me at your departmental seminar!

04.26.2020 - Like many people I have been at home since mid-March to slow the spread of covid-19. I brought some of my lab equipment home to continue experiments. Check out Hot Rocks Lab 2.0 (the at home and with family and cats edition). 

03.08.2020 - I learned a lot while exploring granite plutons in Southern Nevada with Vanderbilt's MESSY (mamga group). Here we are discussing the context and significance of a  leucogranite section in the Searchlight pluton. 

08.16.2019 - I have officially started as an assistant professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at Vanderbilt University! I am excited for the collaborations, research projects, and student mentoring that this new role will enable. Please contact me if you are a prospective graduate student. 

06.30.2019 - It is great to be at the 2019 Summer Cider Program on Volcanoes in Berkeley, California! https://www.deep-earth.org/index

04.19.2019 - I am excited by joining the Vanderbilt University Department of Earth and Environmental Science in fall 2019 as an assistant professor! Please get in touch with me regarding collaborations or if you are a prospective graduate or undergraduate student interested in volcanic flows, submarine volcanism, or mass transport processes at Earth's surface. 

11.19.2018 - I recently returned from a successful drilling and borehole installation campaign at Rancho Venada in Northern California. Now with ~10 holes in the ground we can monitor seasonal wetting and drying of the subsurface. Thanks Daniella Rempe (UT Austin) for being a rock star for largely organizing and funding (DOE) the campaign.

News:

09.23.2018 - Deploying ROV SuBastian during the Hunting Bubbles cruise on the R/V Falkor.  We used  SuBastian to image bubble plumes made of methane and to understand the fate of methane in the water column.

08.18.2018 - A new paper by Fauria and Manga was accepted in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. [link]

06.15.2018 - I recently returned from a month at sea and the popping rocks cruise. It was incredible to be able to dive in Alvin and visit the ocean floor. We brought up lots of popping rocks and - the treat for me - sediment cores containing volcanic ash.

01.10.2018 - One last week of California field work and shallow seismic surveys with Mong-Han Huang and Mariel Nelson (pictured below) before moving to Massachusetts.

12.15.2017 - PhinisheD!

11.30.2017 - I presented my exit seminar: How far, how fast and how long? Dynamics of pyroclastic density currents and submarine eruptions.

08.31.2017 - What a treat to get to go to IAVCEI in my home state of Oregon. I especially enjoyed the post-IAVCEI field trip to the Oregon Cascades and the chance to visit familiar sites with Berkeley friends and fresh perspectives.

07.28.2017 - I just returned from the AGU-SEG Hydrogeophysics Workshop at Stanford. I loved how the workshop format made room for lots of discussion and it was interesting to learn how shallow geophysics is being used to address Critical Zone questions.

05.23.2017 - Work on floating pumice with Michael Manga and Zihan Wei was highlighted by the Lawrence Berkeley Lab News Center. Check out the news release here.

02.10.2017 - I've recently returned from the AGU Chapman Conference on Submarine Volcanism in Hobart, Tasmania. What a great week learning about the vents, spreading centers, volcanoes, and observatories in our oceans as well as the frontiers ahead and the exciting questions that remain unanswered!

12.29.2016 - Why does pumice float and why does pumice sink? A new paper with Michael Manga and Zihan Wei and that addresses those questions was recently accepted in EPSL.

12.17.2016 - Governor Brown delivered an exceptional speech at the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting. Mong-Han Huang and I met with Governor Brown onstage afterwards.

09.03.2016 - Check out our new paper on particle entrainment in pyroclastic density currents in JGR: Solid Earth and here.

01.15.2016 - I've just returned from the 2016 Workshop on Volcanoes at Santiaguito Volcano, Guatemala. The photo below shows a plume from an eruption at ~8am on January 9, 2016 of Santiaguito's Caliente Dome. 

12.13.2015 - It is hard to believe that it is AGU time of year again. I'm looking forward to talking science with colleagues new and old this week. 

05.08.2015 - I passed my qualifying exam! I'm happy to say that I'm now a PhD candidate. 

04.27.2015 - The MESH expedition and the Roger Revelle have docked safely in port in Auckland, New Zealand. The past three weeks on the Roger Revelle have been incredible! Thanks so much to the crew of the Roger Revelle, the Jason and Sentry teams, and NSF for making MESH's scientific discoveries possible.

04.04.2015 - I'm on the Roger Revelle, half way between New Zealand and Tonga, exploring Havre seamount as part of  MESH expedition. We are using autonomous underwater vehicle, Sentry, and remotely operated vehicle, Jason, to investigate new features from an explosive 2012 silicic eruption. After a week, we have collected over a hundred rock samples and made some significant discoveries on the seafloor. We have two more weeks of exploration to go. Follow our progress on our blog and expedition page: http://web.whoi.edu/mesh/

12.20.2014 - I had a great time at the 2014 AGU Fall Meeting. Here is a link to my poster if you'd like to check it out:  2014_PDC_Fauria_3.pdf

04.20.2014 - I have safely returned from a fun and productive week of field work at Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone. Thanks to Shaul Hurwitz for coordinating a successful field expedition!

04.02.2014 - I gave a presentation on suspended particle capture by vegetation at the Upper Truckee River Watershed Advisory Group spring meeting, Stateline, NV. 

03.29.2014 - Returned from a week of Colorado River rafting with the UC Davis Ecogeomorphology class. Thanks to the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences for enabling an exceptionally fun and educational week for UC Davis (and former UC Davis) students.