Volcano expert visits Grand Valley

The eruptions of Mount St. Helens over the past six years have transformed the way experts view volcanoes.

Grand Valley State University’s Geology Department is hosting a public lecture, “Mount St. Helens: A Tale of Three Decades,” by Katharine V. Cashman, a Mineralogical Society of America Distinguished Lecturer. The event takes place Thursday, April 29, at 7 p.m. in Loosemore Auditorium in the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

Cashman is a professor of geological sciences at the University of Oregon and an expert in how volcanoes erupt. She will discuss how the eruptions of 1980-1986, and of 2004-2008, provide a lens through which past volcanic activity can be viewed as well as current activity around the world.

Cashman is a volcanologist interested in how volcanoes erupt and why eruption styles vary from effusive (lava flows and domes) to explosive. She examines the products of eruptions, specifically their textures, compositions and physical properties. Cashman received a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College, a master’s degree from Victoria University and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.

For more information about Cashman’s lecture, call Virginia Peterson at (616) 331-12811.