Director and VISP Instructor

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I grew up in Alaska and attended Oregon and Portland State Universities for my B.S., M.S., and PhD degrees. My primary expertise is in past glacier and climate change. As part of the VISP school I will be overseeing the larger program objectives and assisting with some of the glacial geology related instruction. I am a first generation college student and my family is from Oregon with many members attending 2-year institutions. I am looking forward to being "home" in Oregon during the U.S. VISP and teaching in familiar outdoor spaces that are dear to me.

Director of VISP

I am an Assistant Professor of Volcanology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oregon. I first fell in love with field geology as an undergraduate student at Washington and Lee University in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I did a PhD in geomechanics at Stanford University and then worked as a postdoctoral associate doing volcanology research at Brown University. My expertise is in field-based and computer-based research on magma transport and storage through the earth’s crust. I love field-based education and research and look forward to sharing that passion and expertise through the VISP!

Community College Liaison and VISP Coordinator

I was born in Mexico City and raised in Cuernavaca, which is the capital of the state of Morelos (Mexico's second smallest state) and grew up in the shadow of Volcan Popocatepetl, watching it erupt from my childhood home. Denison University is where I completed my undergraduate degree in Geology in 2005 and I subsequently pursued my Ph.D. in Geology at Oregon State University. My research background is in how the Earth's surface is shaped by the interactions of tectonic processes (driven by internal mechanisms) with surface processes (driven by climate mechanisms). I taught at Linn-Benton and Lane Community Colleges before joining the faculty at Portland Community College in 2017. I did not know that Geology could be a path for me until I took my first class as an undergraduate, and I love introducing students to the study of our wonderful planet! I will be the contact person for Community College students participating in the VISP as well as supporting logistics and field workshop operations.

VISP Instructor

I am the Moraine Chair in Arctic Studies and Professor of Earth Sciences at Dickinson College. I grew up in Wyoming and attended Carleton College (B.A.), the University of Wyoming (M.Sc.) and the University of British Columbia (Ph.D.). My expertise is in volcano-ice interactions, and using volcanic deposits as paleoclimate proxies for reconstructing past ice extents, mainly in British Columbia and Iceland. For VISP, I will be helping to teach basic concepts for describing volcanic rocks and deposits in the field, and learning to identify lava textures and features formed by interactions with ice. I will also be one of the main instructors teaching students how to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV/drones) and Structure-from-Motion principles to make 3-dimensional models of geologic features, as well as helping to give students basic field-based lessons with using QGIS to incorporating those models into more traditional GIS-mapping projects.

VISP Evaluator

I'm an independent consultant who works with Earth scientists to improve their projects. I have a BA in English lit and a PhD in geology, both from the University of Minnesota, and am also a high school dropout with no GED. During my many years working at the U of MN, I advised over 70 undergrad research projects. My job is to pay attention to whether the project goals are being met - for instance, whether the instructors are doing a good job in creating an inclusive and equitable environment for the whole team. I'll be interviewing project team members, both instructors and students, to collect this data. As a soft-rock geologist (I study lakes and lake mud) I know nothing about volcanoes, so I'm very excited to learn alongside students. I'm also psyched to have the opportunity to work on my anxiety about speaking Spanish! I live in Minneapolis, MN, and volunteer at a horse rescue in the early mornings.

VISP Instructor

I was born in the suburbs of Santiago, the capital of Chile. I am a first-generation college student. My father and my mother were born and raised at the flanks of Quizapú and Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanoes. Their stories motivated me to study geoscience at the Universidad de Chile and then complete my Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I am also doing my first year as a PhD Student. I study volcanoes in Chile focusing on the time they erupted and the specific conditions needed to trigger their eruptions (such as temperature, pressure, water content, etc.). To do that, I analyze specific minerals that crystallize in volcanic lava. I love being in the field, but I have never seen a volcano outside Chile so I am very excited to learn from and with you all!

VISP Instructor

I'm a first year PhD student at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where I just completed my Master's degree. I study coastal erosion and sediment transport in the Great Lakes using computer models, drones, and sonar. I took a two year break between high school and college to work in the service industry before enrolling at a 2-year campus. From there I transferred to a 4-year institution in Milwaukee, WI but continued to work full time through my undergraduate degree. As a first generation college student I never planned on grad school, but I made some great connections through my professors that provided encouragement and experience. I'm very excited to participate in VISP because I think it's a great opportunity to foster similar connections. Looking forward to meeting you all!