Tobias Fischer:

Associate Professor of Volcanology

University of New Mexico

I am a volcanologist focusing on the geology and geochemistry of active volcanoes and geothermal systems. My students and I study the chemical and isotopic composition of volcanic gases and thermal waters using remote sensing and direct sampling techniques with the goal of better understanding how volcanoes work. In particular, I am interested in the sources of volcanic volatiles and how the composition and fluxes of the volatiles reflect larger scale tectonic and magmatic processes, in subduction zones and hot spots. I am also interested in time-series data on gas compositions and volatile fluxes with the goal of improving the forecasting of volcanic eruptions. During my Master's and Ph.D. research, I have spent many months in the Colombian Andes working on active volcanoes and learning about the hazards of these volcanoes to population and property.

With scientists form local volcano observatories, I have sampled gas emissions on volcanic peaks higher than 5000m above sea level, in the remote locations of the Kuriles and Kamchatka and on the densely populated islands of Java and Sulawesi, Indonesia. With colleagues I have worked on hot acid crater lakes and measured sulfur dioxide emissions from volcanoes that erupt about every 30 minutes. I work and teach at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The expedition to the Izu Islands is a great opportunity to collect samples (gases and rocks) from remote volcanoes. The laboratory analyses we will perform on these samples will help us understand the processes of element recycling from the Earth's mantle to the atmosphere and oceans.