VOlcano Research Group @ UNR
How do volcanoes work?
What drives their eruptions?
What do volcanoes tell us about the formation of continental crust?
What are the links to sub-surface igneous rocks and hydrothermal processes that drive mineral deposits?
What drives their eruptions?
What do volcanoes tell us about the formation of continental crust?
What are the links to sub-surface igneous rocks and hydrothermal processes that drive mineral deposits?
Current Group Members
Juliette Pin (Ph.D., Brest, France, 2025)
(she/her/hers)
Juliette is a post-doctoral researcher in our group. She worked on magmatism in Afar (Asal and Erta Ale) for her doctorate and joins our group to study magmatic processes at Axial Seamount along the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the Pacific and the Cordón Caulle volcanic system in Chile.
(she/her/hers)
Juliette is a post-doctoral researcher in our group. She worked on magmatism in Afar (Asal and Erta Ale) for her doctorate and joins our group to study magmatic processes at Axial Seamount along the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the Pacific and the Cordón Caulle volcanic system in Chile.
Andrea Buian (M.Sc., Florence, Italy, 2021)
(he/him/his)
Andrea worked on mantle petrology for his MS degree. His doctoral work at UNR focuses on the McDermitt Caldera and the volatile pathways that occurred in pre-caldera, caldera, and post-caldera eruptive products. The McDermitt Caldera and its magmas has produced one of the largest Li deposits (Li-clays in lake sediments) in the world. His work will provide constraints on the magmatic-hydrothermal evolution of the McDermitt caldera through time and the Li enrichment processes.
This project is in collaboration with former NBMG colleague M. Harlaux, now with BRGM-French Survey.
(he/him/his)
Andrea worked on mantle petrology for his MS degree. His doctoral work at UNR focuses on the McDermitt Caldera and the volatile pathways that occurred in pre-caldera, caldera, and post-caldera eruptive products. The McDermitt Caldera and its magmas has produced one of the largest Li deposits (Li-clays in lake sediments) in the world. His work will provide constraints on the magmatic-hydrothermal evolution of the McDermitt caldera through time and the Li enrichment processes.
This project is in collaboration with former NBMG colleague M. Harlaux, now with BRGM-French Survey.
Jakob Scheel (M.Sc., Hamburg, Germany, 2022)
(he/him/his)
Jakob has joined the group after completing an MS degree in geophysics. In his dissertation he combines multi-phase fluid dynamics models to study the formation and destruction of mafic enclaves (in UNR collaboration with Dr. M. Gardner, UC Davis) with field studies on mafic enclaves from the Chaos Crags in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
We have made some fun outreach videos in collaboration with the Reynolds School of Journalism and the Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science at UNR!
There is also a Spanish version available here.
(he/him/his)
Jakob has joined the group after completing an MS degree in geophysics. In his dissertation he combines multi-phase fluid dynamics models to study the formation and destruction of mafic enclaves (in UNR collaboration with Dr. M. Gardner, UC Davis) with field studies on mafic enclaves from the Chaos Crags in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
We have made some fun outreach videos in collaboration with the Reynolds School of Journalism and the Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science at UNR!
There is also a Spanish version available here.
Desiree Guzman (B.Sc., Cal State Long Beach, 2023)
(she/her/hers)
Desiree is interested in mineral scale histories and large silicic eruptions. Her PhD work includes mapping as part of a USGS/EDMAP project in the Toquima Range, NV, and subsequent petrologic and geochemical work on the volcanic systems of the Great Basin.
(she/her/hers)
Desiree is interested in mineral scale histories and large silicic eruptions. Her PhD work includes mapping as part of a USGS/EDMAP project in the Toquima Range, NV, and subsequent petrologic and geochemical work on the volcanic systems of the Great Basin.
Cutter Morebeck (B.Sc., University of Nevada Reno, 2022)
(he/him/his)
Cutter is interested in volcanic landscapes and their products and how they relate to Lithium deposits. His MS work focuses on mapping of Pliocene volcanic products in the vicinity of the Li-deposit at Rhyolite Ridge.
(he/him/his)
Cutter is interested in volcanic landscapes and their products and how they relate to Lithium deposits. His MS work focuses on mapping of Pliocene volcanic products in the vicinity of the Li-deposit at Rhyolite Ridge.
Andrew Siciliano (UNR undergraduate)
Andrew has worked on sulfur speciation and minor element contentrations in apatite from the Eocene intrusions of the Great Basin. He was a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee and worked for the UNR Mackay microbeam laboratory.
Andrew was a 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Congrats Andrew, to your recent 2025 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship - and good luck at the University of Utah for your doctoral studies!
Andrew has worked on sulfur speciation and minor element contentrations in apatite from the Eocene intrusions of the Great Basin. He was a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee and worked for the UNR Mackay microbeam laboratory.
Andrew was a 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Congrats Andrew, to your recent 2025 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship - and good luck at the University of Utah for your doctoral studies!
Pablo Salas (Ph.D. 2020, Outside group member, University of Concepción, Chile)
Pablo's interests lie at the intersection of volcanology and ore deposits. Following several years in the industry, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Concepción working on the eruptive history and magmatic processes at Los Hornitos cinder cones, Chile. This magmatic center is among the most primitive in the Southern Andean Volcanic Zone, representing a unique opportunity to explore magma transport and deeper crustal processes.
Group publications:
Salas et al. (2017) IJES 106: 1107–1121, doi.org: 10.1007/s00531-016-1357-5
Salas et al. (2021) Nat Commun 12, 4069. doi.org: 10.1038/s41467-021-24275-6
Pablo's interests lie at the intersection of volcanology and ore deposits. Following several years in the industry, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Concepción working on the eruptive history and magmatic processes at Los Hornitos cinder cones, Chile. This magmatic center is among the most primitive in the Southern Andean Volcanic Zone, representing a unique opportunity to explore magma transport and deeper crustal processes.
Group publications:
Salas et al. (2017) IJES 106: 1107–1121, doi.org: 10.1007/s00531-016-1357-5
Salas et al. (2021) Nat Commun 12, 4069. doi.org: 10.1038/s41467-021-24275-6
Former Group Members
Audrey Topp (UNR undergraduate)
Audrey worked on two projects to study the tephra deposits of the 2011-12 Puyehue Cordon Caulle eruption. She is looking at syn-depositional deformation as well as grain size studies of the tephra; the latter in collaboration with colleague Dr. Thomas Giachetti from the University of Oregon. Audrey has been a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee.
Congrats Audrey, to your recent 2024 Mackay Outstanding Undergraduate Student award!
Audrey worked on two projects to study the tephra deposits of the 2011-12 Puyehue Cordon Caulle eruption. She is looking at syn-depositional deformation as well as grain size studies of the tephra; the latter in collaboration with colleague Dr. Thomas Giachetti from the University of Oregon. Audrey has been a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee.
Congrats Audrey, to your recent 2024 Mackay Outstanding Undergraduate Student award!
Ellyn Huggins (B.Sc., UC Davis 2017; Ph.D., UNR 2023)
(she/her/hers)
Ellyn's dissertation combines thermodynamic models, melt inclusion work, and other petrologic and mineral scale constraints to understand magma transport and the textural evolution of magmas prior to eruption. Her focus is on volcanoes of the Alaskan Peninsula.
In addition, Ellyn has sea-going experience participating in cruises to the South Atlantic and the off-shore region of the Alaskan Peninsula.
Group publications:
Huggins et al. (2021) Geophys Res Lett 48: e2021GL092884, 10.1029/2021GL092884
(she/her/hers)
Ellyn's dissertation combines thermodynamic models, melt inclusion work, and other petrologic and mineral scale constraints to understand magma transport and the textural evolution of magmas prior to eruption. Her focus is on volcanoes of the Alaskan Peninsula.
In addition, Ellyn has sea-going experience participating in cruises to the South Atlantic and the off-shore region of the Alaskan Peninsula.
Group publications:
Huggins et al. (2021) Geophys Res Lett 48: e2021GL092884, 10.1029/2021GL092884
Ellyn defended her PhD in 2023 and she moved to Cornell University as a Postdoctoral Researcher! Congrats, Dr. Huggins! Also congrats to receiving the 2024 Mackay Outstanding Graduate Student award.
Shasta Longo (B.Sc., Montana State 2021; M.Sc., UNR 2023)
(she/her/hers)
Shasta joined us for a MSc project focussed on the Great Basin and igneous processes. Shasta is conducted a USGS/EDMAP mapping project of the exposed Eocene magmatic system at Swales Mountain, NV. Her MS work uses this mapping effort combined with petrologic and geochemical analyses of the igneous rocks and their mineral phases to develop a model for the assembly of this magmatic system that is tightly spatially and geologically associated with Carlin-type gold deposits.
(she/her/hers)
Shasta joined us for a MSc project focussed on the Great Basin and igneous processes. Shasta is conducted a USGS/EDMAP mapping project of the exposed Eocene magmatic system at Swales Mountain, NV. Her MS work uses this mapping effort combined with petrologic and geochemical analyses of the igneous rocks and their mineral phases to develop a model for the assembly of this magmatic system that is tightly spatially and geologically associated with Carlin-type gold deposits.
Heather Winslow (M.Sc., UNR 2018; Ph.D., UNR 2023)
(she/her/hers)
After completing her MS thesis on the geochemical characteristics of Manantial Pelado, a Pleistocene volcanic center in the Southern Andean Volcanic Zone, she studied for her dissertation products of the shallow magmatic system of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Chile, which erupted recently in 2011-12.
Group publications:
Winslow et al. (2020) Bull Volcanol 82: 69, doi.org: 10.1007/s00445-020-01406-3
Winslow et al. (2022), Insights for crystal mush storage utilizing mafic enclaves from the 2011-12 Cordón Caulle eruption Sci Rep 12, 9734, doi.org: 10.1038/s41598-022-13305-y
Heather recently defended and she will soon be starting as a USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory! Congrats, Dr. Winslow! Also to your 2023 Mackay Outstanding Graduate Student award.
(she/her/hers)
After completing her MS thesis on the geochemical characteristics of Manantial Pelado, a Pleistocene volcanic center in the Southern Andean Volcanic Zone, she studied for her dissertation products of the shallow magmatic system of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Chile, which erupted recently in 2011-12.
Group publications:
Winslow et al. (2020) Bull Volcanol 82: 69, doi.org: 10.1007/s00445-020-01406-3
Winslow et al. (2022), Insights for crystal mush storage utilizing mafic enclaves from the 2011-12 Cordón Caulle eruption Sci Rep 12, 9734, doi.org: 10.1038/s41598-022-13305-y
Heather recently defended and she will soon be starting as a USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory! Congrats, Dr. Winslow! Also to your 2023 Mackay Outstanding Graduate Student award.
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Alex Holmwood (B.Sc., Hamilton 2019; M.Sc., UNR 2023)
Alex studied the hydrothermal-magmatic system of Majuba Hill, NV to understand the processes leading up to this Cu-Sn deposit. Alex 's primary advisor was Dr. Matthieu Harlaux (former NBMG, UNR).
Alex studied the hydrothermal-magmatic system of Majuba Hill, NV to understand the processes leading up to this Cu-Sn deposit. Alex 's primary advisor was Dr. Matthieu Harlaux (former NBMG, UNR).
Johanna Scheck (UNR/DAAD Exchange student from University of Kiel, Germany, 2021)
Johanna joined us for three month in 2021 through support from the DAAD. She assisted Shasta Longo in her mapping efforts at Swales and also worked on S-XANES in apatite data from Great Basin intrusions.
Johanna joined us for three month in 2021 through support from the DAAD. She assisted Shasta Longo in her mapping efforts at Swales and also worked on S-XANES in apatite data from Great Basin intrusions.
Scott Kuykendall (UNR undergraduate)
Scott worked on tephra deposits from the final scoria deposits of the 1932 Quizapu eruption in Chile.
Scott worked on tephra deposits from the final scoria deposits of the 1932 Quizapu eruption in Chile.
Maxim Gavrilenko (Ph.D., Rutgers 2016)
Max was a post-doctoral researcher in our group. His research focuses on arc magmatism with a special interest in the volatile content of primitive magmas and their ascent to the surface. He combines work on natural systems with an experimental approach (Supervisors: Philipp Ruprecht & Mike Krawczynski, WUSTL)
Group publications:
Gavrilenko et al. (2019) Am Mineral 104: 936-948, doi: 10.2138/am-2019-6735
Gavrilenko et al. (2025) Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 180:54, doi: 10.1007/s00410-025-02246-0
Max was a post-doctoral researcher in our group. His research focuses on arc magmatism with a special interest in the volatile content of primitive magmas and their ascent to the surface. He combines work on natural systems with an experimental approach (Supervisors: Philipp Ruprecht & Mike Krawczynski, WUSTL)
Group publications:
Gavrilenko et al. (2019) Am Mineral 104: 936-948, doi: 10.2138/am-2019-6735
Gavrilenko et al. (2025) Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 180:54, doi: 10.1007/s00410-025-02246-0
Curtis Johnson (Ph.D., UNR 2020)
Curtis is an expert on precious metal mineralization in the Great Basin. His thesis focused on a regional transect across through Nevada and Utah to explore how the crust influences the geochemical pathways of magmas and fluids. He used detailed age dating combined with trace element chemistry and speciation on accessory phases on gold- and copper-related magmatic intrusions. (Advisors: Mike Ressel and Philipp Ruprecht)
Curtis is an expert on precious metal mineralization in the Great Basin. His thesis focused on a regional transect across through Nevada and Utah to explore how the crust influences the geochemical pathways of magmas and fluids. He used detailed age dating combined with trace element chemistry and speciation on accessory phases on gold- and copper-related magmatic intrusions. (Advisors: Mike Ressel and Philipp Ruprecht)
Madelyn Cook (UNR undergraduate)
(she/her/hers)
Madelyn worked on magmatic processes in mafic magmas of the Mammoth Mountain area. She was a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee.
In 2022, Madelyn continued with an internship with the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory. She continued with a MS degree at Western Washington University.
(she/her/hers)
Madelyn worked on magmatic processes in mafic magmas of the Mammoth Mountain area. She was a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee.
In 2022, Madelyn continued with an internship with the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory. She continued with a MS degree at Western Washington University.
Nathan Figueredo (UNR undergraduate)
Nathan worked on major element chemistry and zoning in olivines of the Soda Lakes maar eruption, NV. After completing his M.Sc. student at Louisiana State University working on mass wasting events on the Mississippi River Delta Front, he now continues at LSU with his dissertation.
Nathan worked on major element chemistry and zoning in olivines of the Soda Lakes maar eruption, NV. After completing his M.Sc. student at Louisiana State University working on mass wasting events on the Mississippi River Delta Front, he now continues at LSU with his dissertation.
Logan Weeks (B.Sc., UNR 2020)
Logan worked on the Holocene Soda Lakes eruption to determine aspects of the magma ascent history. He was a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee.
Logan worked on the Holocene Soda Lakes eruption to determine aspects of the magma ascent history. He was a Nevada Undergraduate Research Awardee.
William Taylor (UNR undergraduate, B.Sc., UNR 2018)
Will is a Westfall Scholar at UNR. He worked in our lab on a variety of projects including XANES work at APS/Argonne. He now works as a hydrogeologist in Reno.
Will is a Westfall Scholar at UNR. He worked in our lab on a variety of projects including XANES work at APS/Argonne. He now works as a hydrogeologist in Reno.