ASU Field Camp

This will be the third summer in a row I have been a TA for ASU's summer geology field camp.  It's a great deal I've been able to get myself into, and provided the bear from last year doesn't come back, it looks to be a great 3 weeks of cool (ish) weather at 5500 feet, geologic mapping, and great camp food.  I always enjoy getting back to my roots, both camping and geologically, and it's a lot less stressful (though at least equally as much work) to be a TA than to be a student.  It's a good way to start the summer and get excited about geology.

Mapping Sector One viewed from Kush Mountain with ASU's Camp Tontozona in the foreground.

The Central American Volcanic Arc

I have seen both a continental volcanic arc (the Cascade Arc in Washington) and an island arc (the Caribbean Lesser Antilles) before, but the arc in Nicaragua is unique due to it's density. Standing on top of a volcano, you can see the arc stretching out in both directions to the horizon.

Rota, in foreground, with the actively degassing Telica and San Cristobal barely visible through the haze behind and to the left of Rota.  Photo taken from Cerro Negro looking northwest.

   

I've also seen and climbed restless volcanoes before: St. Helens, Vesuvius, and Yellowstone. But again, the density of active and potentially active volcanic centers in Nicaragua is impressive. Telica, San Cristobal, and Masaya all produce a continuous gas plume and Cerro Negro, last active in 1999, has consistently erupted every decade or two since it began in 1850. Apoyeque frequently has seismic swarms, Momotombo (my favorite volcano name in the country) erupted in 1905, and Concepcion erupted in 2009-2011.

 The consistency of activity and the relative safety of travel in the country makes me confident I will return to study the volcanoes there. It's a great place to do it, and a lot cheaper than traveling to Indonesia or Kamchatka, where the volcano density and activity is similar.

Nicaragua

I just returned from a two-week long workshop in Leon, Nicaragua on the subject of Magma-Tectonic Interactions in the Americas.  It was an amazing experience that included field trips to Masaya, Cerro Negro, and San Cristobal volcanoes, which are all actively degassing.  The workshop included instruction on GPS, seismic, petrologic, geochemical, and Coulomb-stress methods of investigating tectonic and volcanic activity.  I learned a ton and also got to meet a bunch of other similarly interested graduate students, post-docs, and professors.  I also came away with a few new ideas for research to do this summer and some potential future collaborations.  I'm excited to get back to research this summer.

Me at Masaya Volcano

Rebranding

So it's been almost 2 years since my last post. As a general update, here's my current status:

 I am still a graduate student, though I'm now a Ph.D. candidate. I passed my quals last November. I just finished my 3rd year at ASU and am looking at 2, maybe 3 more before I get my degree. Research is going well. More on that later maybe. I spent the last 2 years as coach of the ASU mens ultimate B team. I love it and plan to continue coaching as long as I'm here. Despite living in the desert, I still have managed to ski ~15 days each of the past 3 winters. So I'm doing pretty well.

 I decided to attempt to keep up with the blog again in part because I have a pretty cool summer planned and this is a great way to keep in touch with people and also keep an archive of my activities. I also have a couple grad school survival-themed posts I'll dredge up when I get bored. Though I probably won't talk about research or school that much. Mainly I want to write about the awesome things I do to keep myself happy and sane while trying to avoid being weighed down by the stress of creating something novel that benefits humanity (i.e. doctoral research).

 So, without further ado, updated blog! Next post coming soon explaining why exactly I chose today to do this.