Meredith Townsend
Lillis Assistant Professor of Volcanology
1272 University of Oregon, Cascade Hall 100, Eugene OR 97403
mtownse4@uoregon.edu
Education
Ph.D. Geological Sciences, minor in Feminist Gender and Sexuality Studies, Stanford University, California (2017)
B.S. Geology, minor in Mathematics, Washington and Lee University, Virginia (2011)
Professional Appointments
Lillis Assistant Professor of Volcanology, University of Oregon (September 2019 - present)
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Brown University (2017-2019)
Funding
"Ice forcing of arc magma plumbing systems,” National Science Foundation, Frontier Research in Earth Sciences
$2,800,000 total with $303,508 to M. Townsend, University of Oregon — 09/02/21 to 08/31/26
“Investigating the role of topography and magma properties on dike pathways beneath stratovolcanoes: combining field data, analogue experiments, and numerical modeling,” National Science Foundation, Petrology and Geochemistry
$308,426 to M. Townsend, University of Oregon — 08/01/21 - 07/31/24
Advising
Primary adviser:
Ana Colón (Masters, recently graduated), constraining ice-magma interactions during subglacial eruptions using field work in the Oregon Cascades and thermal modeling
Gui Aksit (3rd year PhD), determining magma pathways beneath stratovolcanoes using field work in Colorado and mechanical modeling
Kathryn Scholz (2nd year PhD), understanding the role of magmatic CO2 on volcanic eruption frequency using numerical modeling
Rebecca Bussard (co-advising, 3rd year PhD), using InSAR data with thermal modeling to constrain the thickness of pyroclastic deposits from the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption
Graduate Committee member: Nate Klema, Monse Cascante Matamoros, Amanda Peng, Paul Regensburger, Kathy Trafton, PJ Zrelak, Sydney Dybing, Annika Dechert, Avigyan Chatterjee (graduated) , Rachel Hampton, Allison Kubo, Uriel Hernandez, Kevin Gardner, Larry Hartman, Christina Cauley, Martin Uwiringiyimana
Undergraduate research adviser: Madeline Bruce, Catherine O’Hara (graduated)
Teaching
Mechanical Earth (ERTH 455/555)
Mapping the Earth (ERTH 410/510)
Volcanoes and Earthquakes (ERTH 306)
Geology Summer Field Camp (ERTH 406/506)
Service
Referee: National Science Foundation (NSF), Nature Geoscience, Scientific Reports, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, Journal of Volcanological and Geothermal Research, Geophysical Research Letters, Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, Geophysical Journal International, Geological Society of London, GSA Today, Journal of Structural Geology, Volcanica, Geology
Conference organization: American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting: “Chemistry, Mechanics, Geophysics and Timescales of Magmatic Processes” (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI 2022) “Chemistry, Mechanics, Geophysics and Timescales of Magmatic Processes”
Outreach: Science Teaching and Education Program (STEP) 4th grade earth science programming in Providence, Rhode Island (2017-2018), Assistant Director of Geokids program at Stanford (2013 – 2014)
Awards
DARE Doctoral Fellowship (“Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence”) – Stanford (2014-2016)
Vice Provost for Graduate Education Feminist-Scholar Award – Stanford (2014)
McGee Foundation Award — Stanford (2013)
R.A. MacDiarmid Award — Stanford (2012)
Phi Beta Kappa (2011)
Washington Honor Scholar — Washington and Lee University (2007-2011)
Invited Talks
American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting (2017, 2019, 2021), Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (2020), International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (2019), Cascade Volcano Observatory (2020), University of Nevada (2020), University of Washington (2019), University of Wisconsin (2019), Portland State University (2019), University of Maryland (2018), Wesleyan University (2018), Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (2018), Cornell University (2018), University of Rhode Island (2018), US Geological Survey Menlo Park (2016)
Publications
(i) Townsend M. and Huang M.-H. Timescales of dike growth and chamber deflation constrain magma storage and transport pathways during Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone intrusion (2022) doi: 10.1029/2022JB025636
(ii) Townsend M, Linking surface deformation to thermal and mechanical magma chamber processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117272
(iii) Caricchi L., Townsend M., Rivalta E., and Namiki A., The build-up and triggers of volcanic eruptions. Nature Reviews Earth and Environment (2021) doi: 10.1038/s43017-021-00174-8
(iv) Townsend M. and Huber C., A critical magma chamber size for volcanic eruptions. Geology (2020) doi: 10.1130/G47045.1
(v) Townsend M., Huber C., Degruyter W. and Bachmann O., Magma chamber growth during intercaldera periods: insights from thermo-mechanical modeling with applications to Laguna del Maule, Campi Flegrei, Santorini, and Aso. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (2019) doi: 10.1029/2018GC008103
(vi) Huber C., Townsend M., Degruyter W. and Bachmann O., Optimal depth of subvolcanic magma chamber growth controlled by volatiles and crust rheology. Nature Geoscience (2019) doi: 10.1038/s41561-019-0415-6
(vii) Townsend M., Modeling thermal pressurization around dikes using temperature-dependent hydraulic properties; implications for deformation around intrusions. Journal of Geophysical Research (2018) doi: 10.1002/2017JB014455
(viii) Pollard D.D. and Townsend M., Fluid-filled fractures in Earth’s lithosphere: gravitational loading, interpenetration, and stable height of dikes and veins. Journal of Structural Geology (2018) doi: 10.1016/j.jsg.2017.11.007
(ix) Townsend M., Pollard D.D. and Smith R.P., Mechanical models for dikes: a third school of thought. Tectonophysics, vol. 703-704, pp 98-118 (2017) doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.03.008
(x) Townsend M., Johnson K., Culha C. and Pollard D.D., Jointing around Magmatic Dikes as a Precursor to the Development of Volcanic Plugs. Bulletin of Volcanology, vol.77:92 (2015) doi: 10.1007/s00445-015-0978-z