I work for the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP), a cooperative partnership between the USGS and USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. In my current role, I conduct international training courses, participate in volcanic crisis response efforts, and perform fundamental scientific research on volcanic processes.
My research integrates fieldwork with quantitative textural and chemical characterization of volcanic clasts, in order to produce conceptual models of the relevant geologic processes and better understand processes of shallow magma storage, ascent, and eruption. I use a variety of observation strategies and tools, including geologic mapping and stratigraphy; optical, electron and x-ray microscopy; and tools to measure pore fraction and geometry. I increasingly also work on methods of eruption forecasting and crisis communication for volcanic risk reduction.
I enjoy the multidisciplinary nature of my job. And, I am fortunate to work with an amazing group of colleagues at the USGS and at our partner agencies around the world.
Professional Experience
2013-present: Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, Cascades Volcano Observatory, USGS
2012-2013: California Volcano Observatory, USGS
2010-2012: Mendenhall postdoctoral appointment, USGS Menlo Park, CA. Project title "Using crystal and glass compositions from eruptive products of Mt. Mazama (Crater Lake) volcano to examine magma chamber evolution processes; modelling this evolution through time using an integrated geochemical and thermodynamic approach."
2006-2009: Research fellow, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Project title "Physical volcanology and petrology of the Cerro Galan caldera complex, northern Argentina"
2006: Ph.D. (Geological Sciences) University of Oregon. Thesis title: Physical and chemical signatures of degassing in volcanic systems
1999-2001: Earth Science Intern, ECO, US Geological Survey
1999: Student Intern, USRA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Education and Certifications
PhD, Geological Sciences, University of Oregon
BA, Geology Minors in Spanish and Astronomy, Whitman College
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union
Geological Society of America
Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science
International Association of Volcanology and Geochemistry of the Earth's Interior
Honors and Awards
Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their i
George P. L. Walker award of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, given every two years to an early career scientist in the fields encompassed by IAVCEI,
University of Oregon Doctoral Research Fellowship, awarded to the most outstanding doctoral applicant in any UO PhD program by a faculty selection committee, 2005
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Honorable Mention, 2003
University of Oregon Staples Fellowship, 2002
Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi National Honorary Science Fraternities, 1999
Graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors in Major, 1999
Leeds Prize for Excellence in Geology, 1999
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 25
The Volcanic Hazard Maps Database: An initiative of the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk
In this work we present the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk (CVHR) Volcanic Hazard Maps Database and the accompanying volcanichazardmaps.org website. Using input from a series of IAVCEI CVHR Working Group on Hazard Mapping workshops, we developed a classification scheme and terminology framework for cat
Authors
Sarah E. Ogburn, Danielle Charlton, Diana Norgaard, Heather M. Wright, Eliza S. Calder, Jan Lindsay, John W. Ewert, Shinji Takarada, Yasuhisa Tajima
Decompression and degassing, repressurization, and regassing during cyclic eruptions at Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador, 1999–2001
In 1999–2001, Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador, produced a series of cyclic explosive and effusive eruptions. Rock samples, including dense blocks and pumiceous clasts collected during the eruption sequence, and ballistic bombs later collected from the crater floor, provide information about magma storage, ascent, decompression, degassing, repressurization, and regassing prior to eruption. Pairs
Authors
Heather M. Wright, Raffaello Cioni, Katharine V. Cashman, Patricia Mothes, Mauro Rosi
Conduit processes in crystal-rich dacitic magma and implications for eruptive cycles at Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador
Stratovolcanoes are commonly characterised by cyclic eruptive activity marked by transitions between dome-forming, Vulcanian, Subplinian and Plinian eruptions. Guagua Pichincha volcano (Ecuador) has been a location of such cyclicity for the past ~ 2000 years, with Plinian eruptions in the first and tenth centuries AD (Anno Domini/after Christ), and CE (Common Era) 1660, which were separated by dom
Authors
Mathieu Colombier, Benjamin Bernard, Heather M. Wright, Jean-Luc Le Pennec, Francisco Caceres, Corrado Cimarelli, Michael J. Heap, Pablo Samaniego, Jeremie Vasseur, Donald B. Dingwell
Opal-A in glassy pumice, acid alteration, and the 1817 phreatomagmatic eruption at Kawah Ijen (Java), Indonesia
At Kawah Ijen (Indonesia), vigorous SO2 and HCl degassing sustains a hyperacid lake (pH ~0) and intensely alters the subsurface, producing widespread residual silica and advanced argillic alteration products. In 1817, a VEI 2 phreatomagmatic eruption evacuated the lake, depositing a widespread layer of muddy ash fall, and sending lahars down river drainages. We discovered multiple types of opaline
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern, Vincent van Hinsberg, Kim Berlo, Moritz Liesegang, Kayla D. Iacovino, Ilya N. Bindeman, Heather M. Wright
Construction of probabilistic event trees for eruption forecasting at Sinabung volcano, Indonesia 2013–14
Eruptions of Sinabung volcano, Indonesia have been ongoing since 2013. Since that time, the character of eruptions has changed, from phreatic to phreatomagmatic to magmatic explosive eruptions, and from production of a lava dome that collapsed to a subsequent thick lava flow that slowly ceased to be active, and later, to a new lava dome. As the eruption progressed, event trees were constructed to
Authors
Heather M. Wright, John S. Pallister, Wendy A. McCausland, Julia P. Griswold, Supriyati Andreastuti, Agus Budianto, Sofyan Primulyana, Maurizio Battaglia, Angie Diefenbach, John W. Ewert, Peter J. Kelly, Christoph Kern, Martin R. LaFevers, Andrew B. Lockhart, Jeffrey N. Marso, Gari C. Mayberry, Steve P. Schilling, Rick Wessels, Randall A. White, Nurnaning Aisyah, Nugraha Kartadinata, Kristianto, Raditya Putra, Ugan Boyson Saing, Agus Solihin, Yasa Suparman, Devy Damil Syahbana, Hetty Triastuty
Overview for geologic field-trip guides to Mount Mazama, Crater Lake Caldera, and Newberry Volcano, Oregon
These field-trip guides were written for the occasion of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) quadrennial scientific assembly in Portland, Oregon, in August 2017. The guide to Mount Mazama and Crater Lake caldera is an updated and expanded version of the guide (Bacon, 1989) for part of an earlier IAVCEI trip to the southern Cascade Range. The
Authors
Charles R. Bacon, Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan, Robert A. Jensen, Heather M. Wright
Surface morphology of caldera-forming eruption deposits revealed by lidar mapping of Crater Lake National Park, Oregon- Implications for emplacement and surface modification
Large explosive eruptions of silicic magma can produce widespread pumice fall, extensive ignimbrite sheets, and collapse calderas. The surfaces of voluminous ignimbrites are rarely preserved or documented because most terrestrial examples are heavily vegetated, or severely modified by post-depositional processes. Much research addresses the internal sedimentary characteristics, flow processes, and
Authors
Joel E. Robinson, Charles R. Bacon, Jon J. Major, Heather M. Wright, James W. Vallance
Geologic field trip guide to Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon
Crater Lake partly fills one of the most spectacular calderas of the world—an 8 by 10 kilometer (km) basin more than 1 km deep formed by collapse of the Mount Mazama volcano during a rapid series of explosive eruptions ~7,700 years ago. Having a maximum depth of 594 meters (m), Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. Crater Lake National Park, dedicated in 1902, encompasses 645 squar
Authors
Charles R. Bacon, Heather M. Wright
Field-trip guide to Mount St. Helens, Washington - An overview of the eruptive history and petrology, tephra deposits, 1980 pyroclastic density current deposits, and the crater
This field trip will provide an introduction to several fascinating features of Mount St. Helens. The trip begins with a rigorous hike of about 15 km from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (9 km north-northeast of the crater vent), across the 1980 Pumice Plain, to Windy Ridge (3.6 km northeast of the crater vent) to examine features that document the dynamics and progressive emplacement of pyroclasti
Authors
John S. Pallister, Michael A. Clynne, Heather M. Wright, Alexa R. Van Eaton, James W. Vallance, David R. Sherrod, B. Peter Kokelaar
Thermal and petrologic constraints on lower crustal melt accumulation under the Salton Sea Geothermal Field
In the Salton Sea region of southern California (USA), concurrent magmatism, extension, subsidence, and sedimentation over the past 0.5 to 1.0 Ma have led to the creation of the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF)—the second largest and hottest geothermal system in the continental United States—and the small-volume rhyolite eruptions that created the Salton Buttes. In this study, we determine the f
Authors
Ozge Karakas, Josef Dufek, Margaret T. Mangan, Heather M. Wright, Olivier Bachmann
The role of crystallization-driven exsolution on the sulfur mass balance in volcanic arc magmas
The release of large amounts of sulfur to the stratosphere during explosive eruptions affects the radiative balance in the atmosphere and consequentially impacts climate for up to several years after the event. Quantitative estimations of the processes that control the mass balance of sulfur between melt, crystals, and vapor bubbles is needed to better understand the potential sulfur yield of indi
Authors
Yanqing Su, Christian Huber, Olivier Bachmann, Zoltán Zajacz, Heather M. Wright, Jorge A. Vazquez
Juvenile magma recognition and eruptive dynamics inferred from the analysis of ash time series: The 2015 reawakening of Cotopaxi volcano
Forecasting future activity and performing hazard assessments during the reactivation of volcanoes remain great challenges for the volcanological community. On August 14, 2015 Cotopaxi volcano erupted for the first time in 73 years after approximately four months of precursory activity, which included an increase in seismicity, gas emissions, and minor ground deformation. Here we discuss the use o
Authors
H. Elizabeth Gaunt, Benjamin Bernard, Silvana Hidalgo, Antonio Proano, Heather M. Wright, Patricia Mothes, Evelyn Criollo, Ulrich Kueppers
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 25
The Volcanic Hazard Maps Database: An initiative of the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk
In this work we present the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk (CVHR) Volcanic Hazard Maps Database and the accompanying volcanichazardmaps.org website. Using input from a series of IAVCEI CVHR Working Group on Hazard Mapping workshops, we developed a classification scheme and terminology framework for catAuthorsSarah E. Ogburn, Danielle Charlton, Diana Norgaard, Heather M. Wright, Eliza S. Calder, Jan Lindsay, John W. Ewert, Shinji Takarada, Yasuhisa TajimaDecompression and degassing, repressurization, and regassing during cyclic eruptions at Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador, 1999–2001
In 1999–2001, Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador, produced a series of cyclic explosive and effusive eruptions. Rock samples, including dense blocks and pumiceous clasts collected during the eruption sequence, and ballistic bombs later collected from the crater floor, provide information about magma storage, ascent, decompression, degassing, repressurization, and regassing prior to eruption. PairsAuthorsHeather M. Wright, Raffaello Cioni, Katharine V. Cashman, Patricia Mothes, Mauro RosiConduit processes in crystal-rich dacitic magma and implications for eruptive cycles at Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador
Stratovolcanoes are commonly characterised by cyclic eruptive activity marked by transitions between dome-forming, Vulcanian, Subplinian and Plinian eruptions. Guagua Pichincha volcano (Ecuador) has been a location of such cyclicity for the past ~ 2000 years, with Plinian eruptions in the first and tenth centuries AD (Anno Domini/after Christ), and CE (Common Era) 1660, which were separated by domAuthorsMathieu Colombier, Benjamin Bernard, Heather M. Wright, Jean-Luc Le Pennec, Francisco Caceres, Corrado Cimarelli, Michael J. Heap, Pablo Samaniego, Jeremie Vasseur, Donald B. DingwellOpal-A in glassy pumice, acid alteration, and the 1817 phreatomagmatic eruption at Kawah Ijen (Java), Indonesia
At Kawah Ijen (Indonesia), vigorous SO2 and HCl degassing sustains a hyperacid lake (pH ~0) and intensely alters the subsurface, producing widespread residual silica and advanced argillic alteration products. In 1817, a VEI 2 phreatomagmatic eruption evacuated the lake, depositing a widespread layer of muddy ash fall, and sending lahars down river drainages. We discovered multiple types of opalineAuthorsJacob B. Lowenstern, Vincent van Hinsberg, Kim Berlo, Moritz Liesegang, Kayla D. Iacovino, Ilya N. Bindeman, Heather M. WrightConstruction of probabilistic event trees for eruption forecasting at Sinabung volcano, Indonesia 2013–14
Eruptions of Sinabung volcano, Indonesia have been ongoing since 2013. Since that time, the character of eruptions has changed, from phreatic to phreatomagmatic to magmatic explosive eruptions, and from production of a lava dome that collapsed to a subsequent thick lava flow that slowly ceased to be active, and later, to a new lava dome. As the eruption progressed, event trees were constructed toAuthorsHeather M. Wright, John S. Pallister, Wendy A. McCausland, Julia P. Griswold, Supriyati Andreastuti, Agus Budianto, Sofyan Primulyana, Maurizio Battaglia, Angie Diefenbach, John W. Ewert, Peter J. Kelly, Christoph Kern, Martin R. LaFevers, Andrew B. Lockhart, Jeffrey N. Marso, Gari C. Mayberry, Steve P. Schilling, Rick Wessels, Randall A. White, Nurnaning Aisyah, Nugraha Kartadinata, Kristianto, Raditya Putra, Ugan Boyson Saing, Agus Solihin, Yasa Suparman, Devy Damil Syahbana, Hetty TriastutyOverview for geologic field-trip guides to Mount Mazama, Crater Lake Caldera, and Newberry Volcano, Oregon
These field-trip guides were written for the occasion of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) quadrennial scientific assembly in Portland, Oregon, in August 2017. The guide to Mount Mazama and Crater Lake caldera is an updated and expanded version of the guide (Bacon, 1989) for part of an earlier IAVCEI trip to the southern Cascade Range. TheAuthorsCharles R. Bacon, Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan, Robert A. Jensen, Heather M. WrightSurface morphology of caldera-forming eruption deposits revealed by lidar mapping of Crater Lake National Park, Oregon- Implications for emplacement and surface modification
Large explosive eruptions of silicic magma can produce widespread pumice fall, extensive ignimbrite sheets, and collapse calderas. The surfaces of voluminous ignimbrites are rarely preserved or documented because most terrestrial examples are heavily vegetated, or severely modified by post-depositional processes. Much research addresses the internal sedimentary characteristics, flow processes, andAuthorsJoel E. Robinson, Charles R. Bacon, Jon J. Major, Heather M. Wright, James W. VallanceGeologic field trip guide to Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon
Crater Lake partly fills one of the most spectacular calderas of the world—an 8 by 10 kilometer (km) basin more than 1 km deep formed by collapse of the Mount Mazama volcano during a rapid series of explosive eruptions ~7,700 years ago. Having a maximum depth of 594 meters (m), Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. Crater Lake National Park, dedicated in 1902, encompasses 645 squarAuthorsCharles R. Bacon, Heather M. WrightField-trip guide to Mount St. Helens, Washington - An overview of the eruptive history and petrology, tephra deposits, 1980 pyroclastic density current deposits, and the crater
This field trip will provide an introduction to several fascinating features of Mount St. Helens. The trip begins with a rigorous hike of about 15 km from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (9 km north-northeast of the crater vent), across the 1980 Pumice Plain, to Windy Ridge (3.6 km northeast of the crater vent) to examine features that document the dynamics and progressive emplacement of pyroclastiAuthorsJohn S. Pallister, Michael A. Clynne, Heather M. Wright, Alexa R. Van Eaton, James W. Vallance, David R. Sherrod, B. Peter KokelaarThermal and petrologic constraints on lower crustal melt accumulation under the Salton Sea Geothermal Field
In the Salton Sea region of southern California (USA), concurrent magmatism, extension, subsidence, and sedimentation over the past 0.5 to 1.0 Ma have led to the creation of the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF)—the second largest and hottest geothermal system in the continental United States—and the small-volume rhyolite eruptions that created the Salton Buttes. In this study, we determine the fAuthorsOzge Karakas, Josef Dufek, Margaret T. Mangan, Heather M. Wright, Olivier BachmannThe role of crystallization-driven exsolution on the sulfur mass balance in volcanic arc magmas
The release of large amounts of sulfur to the stratosphere during explosive eruptions affects the radiative balance in the atmosphere and consequentially impacts climate for up to several years after the event. Quantitative estimations of the processes that control the mass balance of sulfur between melt, crystals, and vapor bubbles is needed to better understand the potential sulfur yield of indiAuthorsYanqing Su, Christian Huber, Olivier Bachmann, Zoltán Zajacz, Heather M. Wright, Jorge A. VazquezJuvenile magma recognition and eruptive dynamics inferred from the analysis of ash time series: The 2015 reawakening of Cotopaxi volcano
Forecasting future activity and performing hazard assessments during the reactivation of volcanoes remain great challenges for the volcanological community. On August 14, 2015 Cotopaxi volcano erupted for the first time in 73 years after approximately four months of precursory activity, which included an increase in seismicity, gas emissions, and minor ground deformation. Here we discuss the use oAuthorsH. Elizabeth Gaunt, Benjamin Bernard, Silvana Hidalgo, Antonio Proano, Heather M. Wright, Patricia Mothes, Evelyn Criollo, Ulrich Kueppers
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government