Kari Cooper is wearing tinted glasses, smiling in front of a tree.

Deciphering the Black Box of Volcanoes: Kari Cooper Receives Norman L. Bowen Award

  • by Greg Watry
A fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Geological Society of America, geochemist Kari Cooper, a professor of earth and planetary sciences in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis, won the American Geophysical Union’s Norman L. Bowen Award, which honors a mid-career or senior scientist for outstanding contributions to the fields of petrology, volcanology and geochemistry.
Five students from UC Davis walk across recently cooled lava in Hawaii.

Putting Science Into Practice: Preparing for Volcanic Eruptions

  • by Becky Oskin

Coordinating the emergency response to an erupting volcano is an all-hands-on-deck affair that leaves little time for extra work, such as answering boatloads of inquiries from researchers who want to collect rock samples. On the other hand, science done during eruptions provides essential data for understanding and forecasting future volcanic flare-ups.

Lassen Summit

Lassen Is UC Davis’ Newest Natural Reserve

  • by Becky Oskin

With a terrain covering volcanoes, steaming fumaroles and forestlands, the Lassen Field Station is the newest addition to the University of California, Davis’ Natural Reserve System. The partnership offers researchers access to a variety of park facilities such as cabins, classroom space and camping. The reserve will streamline the research permit process and open new avenues for research, teaching and public outreach.

UC Davis GEL 138 class

Cool Class: Volcanic Adventure

It’s 3 a.m. and a group of UC Davis students are beginning an hours-long trek across barren lava fields under a sky crowded with stars. The sunrise trek is part of Geology 138, a class that vividly brings to life the basics of volcanology — how a volcano works and what are the signs of unrest.
Plume model

Model of Blobs in Earth’s Interior Explains Unusual Pacific Volcanism

  • by Becky Oskin
Deep inside the Earth are two huge blobs of dense rock splayed across the core-mantle boundary. A computer model from UC Davis project scientists Juliane Dannberg and Rene Gassmoeller, members of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the College of Letters and Science, offers new insights into the relationship between the mantle blobs and the lava erupted at some Pacific islands.
Michael Poland setting up a GPS station on Mount St. Helens.

Michael Poland: Life at the Living Edge

  • by Becky Oskin
As a volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and now scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, Mike Poland (B.S. '97, Geology) is on the front line during hazardous volcanic events. Poland credits his "amazing professors" at UC Davis for teaching him how to communicate science clearly and vividly - an essential part of a career with the USGS.
UC Davis rock garden

UC Davis Experts to Speak at the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting

  • by Becky Oskin
UC Davis scientists from fields across earth and space science will present their work during the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, Dec. 12-16. This tip sheet highlights a range of UC Davis research, from the origin of Earth and the moon, to climate change impacts on the California Coast, to estimating the potential for future earthquakes. 
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