About me
I'm a geochemist, volcanologist and magmatic petrologist, working on understanding how magmas are generated and stored in the Earth's crust and what makes them erupt. My research includes fieldwork, geochemical analyses of natural samples, high-temperature experiments and thermodynamic and thermomechanical modelling.
I am particularly interested in processes at the interface of different temperature regimes, such as where magma interacts with cold crust and where magmatism drives hydrothermal systems. Since fall 2022, I am a junior professor and head of the group "Petrology and Fluid Processes" at RWTH Aachen University. Together, we work on the effects of magmatic volatiles (like water, carbon dioxide, alkalis and halogens) on the eruption behavior of silicic magmatic systems, their interaction with continental crust and their role in accumulating metals to form ore deposits. Previously, I was a postdoc at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (Washington DC/USA) and Brown University (Providence RI/ USA), and completed my PhD at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). |
Education
2014-2019
2012-2014
2009-2012
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Doctorate at ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Advisors: Olivier Bachmann, Ben Ellis, Peter Ulmer Thesis title: "The generation of low-δ18O rhyolites along the Yellowstone hotspot track: Constraints from experiments, oxygen isotopes and thermal models" MSc Earth Sciences at ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Advisors: Olivier Bachmann, Ben Ellis Thesis title: "A magma reservoir prior to a Yellowstone supereruption: Constraints from the Mount Jackson Rhyolite and Island Park dome series, Yellowstone/USA" BSc Geosciences at University of Kiel, Germany
Advisors: Armin Freundt, Steffen Kutterolf Thesis title: "Evolution of volcanic deposits of Antuco volcano, SVZ/Chile" |
Research experience
since Sep 2022
Oct 2020 - Apr 2022
Feb 2019 - Sep 2020
Oct 2014 - Jan 2019
Oct/Nov 2017
2012-2014
Aug/Sep 2011
2011-2012
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Junior professor RWTH Aachen University, Germany
leading the group "Petrology and Fluid Processes" Postdoctoral researcher/Buck fellow Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, USA
Investigating the role of water as a control for the effusive-explosive transition in Yellowstone rhyolites Postdoctoral researcher Brown University/ETH Zurich, USA/Switzerland
joint project NSF/SNSF: Tracking the exsolution and migration of volatiles in shallow magma reservoirs Research assistant ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Assistant for SEM lab and Karl-Fischer titration apparatus. Teaching assistant. Research stay University of Cape Town, South Africa
3-week training on laser fluorination and conventional silicate lines for oxygen isotope analysis Lab assistant ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Sample preparation, heavy mineral separation, EPM and LA-ICPMS analyses, managing group website Research internship University of Leicester, UK
Summer research project on correlation of high-temperature rhyolitic ignimbrites in the Snake River Plain, Idaho/USA Lab assistant University of Kiel
Rock crushing, heavy mineral separation |
Awards, scholarships and grants
2023
2022
2020
2019
2017
2013
2011
|
Teaching award "Best Newcomer" of the RWTH Georesources student association
Paul Niggli Medal of the Swiss Geological Society for young scientists in Earth Sciences
Buck Fellowship, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, USA
ETH Career Seed grant "Will it melt? Testing crustal melting in the Krafla volcanic field (Iceland)"
American Philosophical Society Franklin grant in support of fieldwork in Yellowstone ETH Silver Medal for outstanding dissertation Beate Mocek Award of the German Mineralogical Society for young female scientists in the field of petrology/geochemistry
ETH student travel grant in support of thesis-related fieldwork
Student travel grant for attendance of short course "Diamonds and Mantle Petrology"
DAAD Rise worldwide research scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Network in support of research internship at the University of Leicester (UK) |