Recent Work

Scientific Publications

These are works I’ve led:

• A shake and a surge: Assessing the possibility of an earthquake-triggered eruption at Steamboat Geyser (2024, Volcanica)
  • Big earthquakes near and far affect geyser activity. But what about small earthquakes?
  • This is a blueprint for how to investigate whether an earthquake triggered a geyser eruption. Spoiler alert: permanent seismic monitoring stations provide crucial data.
• Snow suppresses seismic signals at Steamboat Geyser (2023, Geophysical Research Letters)
  • Who doesn’t love an alliterative title? Steamboat’s eruptions are noisy, and a nearby seismometer mostly picks up sound waves traveling from the air into the ground rather than seismic waves traveling only through the ground.
  • Snow significantly reduces the amount of energy transmitted into the ground from the sound waves. This impacts interpretation of eruption intensity and might also be relevant at snow-covered volcanoes.
• The 2018 reawakening and eruption dynamics of Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest active geyser (2021, PNAS)
  • Your starting point for understanding the first few years of the latest active phase of Steamboat Geyser.
  • Why did it reactivate after a few decades of relative dormancy? We’re still not sure… :(
  • …but we ruled a few things out like earthquakes and anomalous precipitation. :)

General Audience Publications

Occasionally, I write about geysers for the Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles, a weekly column published by the U.S. Geological Survey. This is a great resource for anyone looking to learn about Yellowstone-related earth science topics. I contributed to these columns:

• Digging into the history of hydrothermal explosions in Biscuit Basin
• New research sheds light on Steamboat Geyser’s eruptions, past and present
• Insights into the eruptions of Steamboat Geyser

In News Media

Science journalists rock. Here are cool stories featuring research I’ve been involved in:

• NPR: When Steamboat goes WHOOSH, scientists look for answers by Nell Greenfieldboyce
• Deseret Magazine: The fate of Old Faithful by Benoît Morenne
• The Wall Street Journal: The World’s Tallest Geyser Holds On to Some Secrets by Jo Craven McGinty
• Wyoming Public Radio: Steamboat Geyser Has Reawakened, But It’s Still Keeping Secrets by Ashley Piccone
• The New York Times: The Cold Case of What’s Heating Up Yellowstone’s Steamboat Geyser by Robin George Andrews

In Podcasts

I said some words for a few podcast episodes:

• Hello, Nature episode 5: Hello, Yellowstone
• PNAS Science Sessions: Eruption of Steamboat Geyser