From historic eruptions dating back to the mid-1700s to present-day activity on Hawaii’s Kīlauea shield volcano, students in Christelle Wauthier’s GEOSC 30 study the science behind volcanic activity and the impact of eruptions on local populations, wildlife, and the environment. 

“In each module, students look at a certain volcano and a certain eruption, learning about the facts, the science, and the natural hazards—and as they go through the semester, the volcanoes are more and more explosive,” says Wauthier, an associate professor of geosciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. “We start with fluid lava in Hawaii, and then we go all the way up to Yellowstone—which many people don’t know is an active volcano—and the idea of a super eruption that could, if it happened, destroy half the world.”

That kind of occurrence, though, is highly unlikely, she says, so one of Wauthier’s main goals in imparting the science of volcanology is to demystify volcanoes and volcanic activity. “There’s a lot of tourism in volcanic places,” she says, “and most it is super safe. People need to know that.”

Wauthier decided she wanted to become a volcanologist at the age of six. She studied geological engineering in Belgium, where she’s originally from, and got a master’s degree in volcanology from the University of Clermon-Ferrand in France. She’s a specialist of Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano—the first volcano GEOSC 30 students learn about—and she’s also studied volcanic activity in Central America and the East African Rift, in Tanzania, and in Congo. 

As a fun activity, students in GEOSC 30 get to create their own volcanic eruption by throwing Mentos candies into a bottle of Diet Pepsi. “I get them to measure the height of the fountain and to do the experiment in different temperature conditions with a different number of Mentos,” says Wauthier. “The students really enjoy this experiment.”

Maureen Feineman, associate research professor of geosciences, developed GEOSC 30.