Meet Erin 

Erin Lysne works in the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory's Sediment Laboratory, where she processes soil, lahar, ash, and suspended sediment water samples from the Pacific Northwest, as well as locations all over the country. Erin enjoys sharing her love of suspended sediment with students, visitors, and the public. If you attend the May 2025 Cascades Volcano Observatory Open House (more on that soon) you will find her in the lab with our Sediment Analysis Laboratory Instrument, better known as SALI, the robot.  Erin also works in the field survey setting, notably conducting the annual Crater Glacier survey at Mount St. Helens.  

 RIP VALT 

The VALT monitoring station was installed in 2006 on Mount St. Helens' crater floor. For 18 years, it withstood snow, ice, rain, wind, and baking heat, detecting rockfalls, earthquakes, and the steady advance of Crater Glacier. As the distance between Crater Glacier and VALT decreased, it was clear a demobilization plan was needed. Anxious about damage to the station from the advancing glacier and hazards to people working at the site, a CVO field team dismantled VALT on June 6, 2024.  

Because of its history, Mount St. Helens is a very well instrumented volcano and no gaps in monitoring are anticipated. In the future, a new site will be found for VALT away from the reach of Crater Glacier. 

Erin had a front row view as Crater Glacier advanced toward VALT  

During the 2004-08 eruption, the emerging lava spines split Crater Glacier in two, shoving the ice up against the enclosing crater walls. This caused the separate arms of ice to surge around the east and west sides of the lava domes, moving as much as 4.5 feet per day. The arms merged in the spring of 2008 to completely encircle the lava domes. After the eruption ended, the glacier’s wide terminus continued to advance northward across the crater floor a rate of about 1 foot per day, headed toward VALT. We know this because the advance of Crater Glacier is measured using GPS survey techniques by CVO scientists, including Erin and Tami Christianson. 

The Ghost of Vault 

On Halloween, October 31, 2024, Erin dazzled in a handcrafted VALT costume, complete with working solar panels. This costume amazed the Volcano Science Center team, easily taking first place in the Cascades Volcano Observatory staff costume contest. 

Congrats on your win, Erin and thank you for all you do!