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Western Washington University will host Katherine Kelley, University of Rhode Island assistant professor of Oceanography, as part of Western’s College of Sciences and Technology’s Leaders in Their Field Lecture Series at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19 in Academic Instructional West Room 210 on ²ÝÁñÉçÇø’s campus.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Kelley will discuss “The Volatile Story of Explosive Volcanism.” Explosive volcanic eruptions are one of the most important products of Earth's tumultuous character, building Earth's crust, impacting human populations, and moderating our climate. Volatile elements, like water and carbon dioxide, are the major causes of volcanic explosions. The talk will look at Earth's volcanic margins, tracing the pathways of volatiles as they are carried from the Earth's surface to the deep interior by tectonic plates, to be returned to the surface by volcanism.

Kelley’s research currently focuses on constraining the importance of volatile species to mantle and magmatic processes at subduction zones and mid-ocean ridges, developing geochemical tracers of material cycling through subduction zones, and modeling the long-term effects of subduction on the geochemical evolution of the earth's interior. She has worked on volcanoes in the Mariana Islands, the Philippines and Indonesia, and a sampling of submarine spreading ridges.

For more information contact Jennifer Mott, ²ÝÁñÉçÇø program coordinator for the College of Sciences and Technology, (360) 650-2454 or jennifer.mott@wwu.edu.