EARTH SCIENCES - Deposited in 2022 when the underwater Hunga volcano spewed a 37-mile plume into the atmosphere—the biggest eruption seen in the modern satellite era—the seafloor ash provided a unique opportunity to study the impact of sediment movement on deep-sea life. Marcus Chaknova, then a marine biology and geology major, discovered ash from the volcano, which will shape scientific research for years to come.

Eight faculty members have been selected to win this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards, which recognize exceptional teaching at the University of Oregon. The 2024-25 recipients are Lana Lopesi, Adell Amos, Mohsen Manesh, Marli Miller, Damian Radcliffe, Corinne Bayerl, Amanda Wojick and Naoko Nakadate.

EARTH SCIENCES - Whether she’s scaling 150-foot towers or testifying before legislators, Sydney Whiting is helping to revolutionize wildfire and earthquake detection in Oregon. As a field technician for the Oregon Hazards Lab (OHAZ), the alumna installs and maintains the seismic sensors, network infrastructure and cameras that provide real-time hazard monitoring throughout the state, giving firefighters and communities a crucial tool when responding to wildfires and earthquakes.

COMPUTER SCIENCE, EARTH SCIENCES, GEOGRAPHY - The world can be hazardous: seismic activity that shakes the earth, rising sea levels and volcanic eruptions that reshape the landscape. Meet some of the CAS scientists who are studying the most powerful forces that threaten humanity.

EARTH SCIENCES - Any moment, the "Big One" could hit the Pacific Northwest. It's been more than 300 years since the last 9.0+ Cascadia earthquake. At the University of Oregon, researchers are working from many angles to make sure people across the region are as prepared as possible.

EARTH SCIENCES - Oregon’s Cascade Range mountains might not hold gold, but they store another precious resource in abundance: water. Scientists from the University of Oregon and their partners have mapped the amount of water stored beneath volcanic rocks at the crest of the central Oregon Cascades and found an aquifer many times larger than previously estimated — at least 81 cubic kilometers.

EARTH SCIENCES - Is there a habitable environment beneath the Jupiter moon Europa’s icy crust? CAS Professor Carol Paty is helping NASA find out. Paty, a comparative planetologist who builds numerical 3D models, was brought on board several of the scientific teams to help determine how the Europa Clipper's instruments could best answer key questions about the subsurface ocean: How deep is it? How salty is it? How far beneath the ice does it lie?

In UO’s materials characterization labs, researchers are pushing the boundaries of what can be observed through a microscope. Equipped with some of the most powerful electron microscopes on the West Coast, CAMCOR is arguably the University of Oregon’s most comprehensive and cutting-edge core science facility. Funded by the Office of Research and Innovation, it was the first institute in North America to install a multi-ion source plasma-focused ion beam, which can analyze and mill materials at the nanometer level.