Current Students

Jacob Klug (PhD Student)

Jacob is a PhD student in the department of Geoscience. He earned a B.S. in Geology with a minor in Chemistry from Saint Norbert College and a M.S. in Geoscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His M.S. focused on constraining how formation and storage of Laguna del Maule rhyolites evolved in the late Pleistocene to Holocene by measuring volatile and trace element contents in silicic melt inclusions. His dissertation will continue to focus on how volcanism works in the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone. He will combine ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology with whole rock data, mineral compositions, and field observations to construct a detailed history of how Planchon-Peteroa composite volcano was constructed. Additionally, he will use a host of petrologic tools to study explosive Holocene eruptions at Planchon-Peteroa, specifically with a focus on magma mixing.

Pablo Moreno-Yaeger (PhD Student)

Pablo conducting field work on Mocho-Choshuenco Volcano in Chile

Pablo is a Chilean MS and PhD student in the Department of Geoscience. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology  (Título de Geólogo) with a minor in Renewable Energies from the University of Chile. Pablo’s research focuses on understanding how magma storage conditions evolve during the interglacial-glacial transition and post-glacial times in Mocho-Choshuenco and Villarrica volcanoes located in the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone in Chile. He will combine whole-rock, mineral chemistry, and mineral-hosted melt inclusions analyses with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and ³He surface exposure geochronometers. Much of his will will be part of the IF-AMPS project.

Pablo’s Master thesis supplemental data and appendices can be downloaded here: MorenoYaeger_Appendices_Thesis.xlsx

Benjamin Bruck (PhD Student)

Ben is a PhD student in the department of Geoscience. He earned a B.S. in Geoscience from Boise State University, and an M.S. in Geoscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ben’s research is part of the Green River Eocene Earth & Climate Observatory (GREECO) project. His contribution to this project involves dating volcanic ash bed lake deposits in SW Wyoming, and using Bayesian approaches to develop high-precision age-depth models in order to understand how ancient lakes responded to astronomically-driven changes in climate.

Ben is also interested in incorporating cyberinformatics tools into the laboratory workflow, and how technology can be used to improve how data is collected, processed, and shared with the larger geoscience community. His dissertation will highlight some of the efforts the WiscAr Lab has taken to adopt, develop, and implement such tools.

Cam DeSilva (MSc Student)

Cam is an MS student in the Department of Geoscience. He earned his BS with distinction in Geology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and joined the WiscAr lab in 2021. Cam’s research focuses on better understanding the role of glacial loading and unloading on active arc magma plumbing systems. His work will use several petrologic and geochemical techniques as well as ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology on the Antiallanca volcano in the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone in Chile.

Youjuan Li (Post-doc)

Alec Baudry (Undergraduate Research Assistant)

Alec is a junior Geoscience/Geological Engineering/Environmental Science triple major here at the University of Wisconsin Madison planning on graduating in May of 2023, with an interest in the environment and environmental Geology.  More specifically how Geologic and other natural earth process effect the Environment and Biosphere.   He will be researching and writing a senior thesis on Volcano Osorno in the Volcanic arcs of the Andes in Chile. Trying to better understand and conceptualize the glacial migration and retreat of the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago, and how it affected the Volcanology and Petrology of the Volcano and surrounding area.

Recent Students

Nathan Andersen (PhD 2017, now Research Geologist USGS Cascades Volcano Obseratory)

Nathan Andersen is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geoscience and a Research Assistant in the WiscAr Lab. He earned a BA in Earth and Environmental Science from Wesleyan University and joined the WiscAr Lab in 2011. Nathan’s dissertation research focuses on understanding the assembly, storage, and eventual destabilization and eruption of large silicic magma systems. He integrates several geochronometers including ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, ²³⁰Th-²³⁸U disequilibrium, and trace element diffusion timescales to interrogate the timing, duration, and rates of magmatic processes.

Allen Schaen (PhD 2018; now Research Scientist, University of Arizona)

Allen is a PhD student in the Department of Geoscience and a Research Assistant in the WiscAr laboratory. He earned his B.S. in geology at Bridgewater State University. His M.S. in Geoscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison focused on the Eocene to Pleistocene evolution of the Delarof Islands within the western Aleutians Arc using ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology. His dissertation work will include application of high precision U-Pb zircon petrochronology along with ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronology to study the evolution of Late Miocene granitic plutons in the southern Andes, Chile. Research interests include high precision geochronology, island arc evolution, pluton emplacement, and the volcanic-plutonic connection.

Paola Martínez (MSc 2017, now Technician, SERNAGEOMIN Chile 40Ar/39Ar Laboratory, Chile)

Paola Martínez is an MS student in geochemistry. She is currently a Teaching Assistant for the Introduction to Geologic Structures course. Paola has a Geology degree from Universidad de Chile. She has professional experience in the mining industry, but the most recently worked for three years working with the Geological and Mining Survey of Chile (SERNAGEOMIN) focused on regional geology of northern Chile. Her MS thesis is on the geochronology and geochemical history of Antuco Volcano in southern Chile, which is one of the few volcanoes with an isotopically primitive magma source in the southern volcanic zone.

Chase Kresl

Chase is an undergraduate student assistant in the WiscAr laboratory, working to prepare samples for irradiation and analysis. Chase is originally from Eagle River, Wisconsin and is currently in his senior year at UW Madison, pursuing a degree in Geoscience. Areas of particular geologic interest include geochemisty, geophysics, hydrogeology, and geochronology.

Salsabila Nazari

Salsabila is an undergraduate student assistant in the WiscAr laboratory, working to prepare samples for irradiation and analysis. She is from Malaysia and is attending the University of Wisconsin on a Petronas Scholarship. She is active in the Taekwondo association, and also doing a directed studies on Linear Mica Continuity (LMC) with an graduate student in Structural Geology. Salsabila’s aims to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry.