I received a B.A. in Geology from Mount Holyoke College (MA, USA) . My M.Sc. was on the eruption and emplacement mechanisms of basaltic pyroclastic deposits of the East Greenland flood basalt province, at the University of California, Davis. I followed this with a Ph.D. at Royal Holloway, University of London (England) studying the silicic pyroclastic deposits of the Afro-Arabian flood volcanic province. I had a post-doc at the Danish Lithosphere Center (Copenhagen, Denmark), and am currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa (IA, USA).

My research involves utilizinging a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding explosive volcanic systems - magma petrogenesis, eruption and emplacement mechanisms of both mafic and silicic pyroclastic deposits, and the holistic interpretation of volcanic stratigraphic sequences containing effusive, explosive and reworked volcanic material. I am also becoming involved in planetary geology research, both by utilizing rovers to remotely explore other planets and also by using Earth-based analogues as proxies for understanding the geology of other planets. Please visit my personal web page.