MSU volcanologist Madison Myers was awarded a 5-year $638,000 grant to continue research at Yellowstone National Park. the National Science Foundation CAREER grant is awarded to researchers who are in their early careers.

Myers is an assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Bozeman campus and will study Yellowstone's Lava Creek Tuff formation and the Yellowstone Caldera. She will include students in the field work and is integrating Native American perspectives into a study course at Montana State University.

Michael Babcock, head of the Earth Sciences department said in a news release, "Dr. Myers is a remarkable scientist and so worthy of this prestigious award. The project will not only advance our understanding of the Yellowstone volcanic system but also emphasizes her strong commitment to student inclusivity and accessibility."

Myers said of the students in the class, "All of these people get to have these cool field experiences. Hopefully that engages them and helps them figure out whether they want to continue in geology or Earth sciences in general."

Myers, for her doctoral work at the University of Orgeon, studied the Huckleberry Ridge supereruption which, over 2 million years ago, ejected over 6,000 times the material as Mount St. Helens did in 1980. She is interested in the more recent Lava Creek eruption of a half-million years ago, comparing it with the Huckleberry eruption.

The study will include argon dating to test the minerals of Lava Creek to try to figure a timeline for the eruption, or if it's part of the first supereruption. She said, "I'm hoping in five years we know a good deal, but we're not going to know everything. There's no way. but can we lay a foundation to then ask another set of questions that allows up to learn even more?" The full story on grant award by Rachel Hergett is at the MSU news website.

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