Who am I and what inspires me?

While these varied interests keep my mind and body stimulated, the constant threat of natural disasters and their amplification by climate change keeps me focused on a career in the Earth sciences. During high school in Montclair, NJ (Go Mounties!), I realized that climate change would be the defining challenge for my generation and those to follow. During my undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC I became fascinated by the fluid Earth and the catastrophic releases of potential energy that are governed by fluid dynamics. I switched from Political Science to Geophysics during my undergraduate degree to learn more about natural disasters, the global climate system, and the fundamentals of geophysical fluid dynamics . 

My undergraduate and PhD research work introduced me to the volcano-climate puzzle piece. Over geologic time, volcanoes build and modulate our atmosphere. On shorter time scales rare catastrophic eruptions can induce rapid climate shifts, whereas the cumulative effects of small eruptions can influence climate over decades. Consequently, I'm motivated to understand how eruption styles of all sizes influence the responses of Earth's surface, oceans and atmosphere to climate change.  Beyond volcanology, I have extensive experience working on and monitoring glaciers and unstable mountain slopes where I have witnessed rapid responses of these icy and rocky masses to new weather extremes. These observations motivate me to leverage my geophysical fluid dynamics knowledge to study the response of glaciers and landslides to climate change. 

After thoroughly enjoying life and work in Vancouver, BC, I now live in Eugene, OR where I work at the University of Oregon researching natural disasters. Much of my first summer was spent planning life around an intense wildfire season and talking with locals about the devastating effects on their homes, businesses, and health. Forecasting wildfire plume evolution and transport in the atmosphere is challenging, but I hope to use my volcanic plume knowledge to improve our understanding of wildfire plume physics. 

So what inspires me? The natural world and all the hard-working people living in it. We are conducting the greatest Earth Science experiment ever with anthropogenic climate change and the consequences will be devastating. However, it is also a chance to observe unprecedented events with cutting-edge technology and improve our ability to protect communities from this rapidly changing world.