Bill Chadwick is a Research Professor at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon, and is acting-head of NOAA/PMEL’s Earth-Ocean Interactions Program. He became interested in studying volcanoes when he was in college and Mount St. Helens erupted. He majored in geology at Colorado College, where he received his B.A. After college, he worked at Mount St. Helens with the U.S. Geological Survey for 2 years, and he’s been hooked on studying active volcanoes ever since. After the USGS, he got a PhD in Geology at University of California at Santa Barbara, did a post-doc with the USGS in Menlo Park after that, and has been worked at Oregon State University since 1989.
His current research interests include investigating how magma is supplied and stored at active volcanoes, what happens during submarine eruptions, and how underwater eruptions affect the chemistry and ecosystems of hydrothermal vent sites. His research uses high-resolution mapping of the seafloor with multibeam sonars on autonomous underwater vehicles, visual observations of the seafloor from remotely operated vehicles, and monitoring of volcanic processes from seafloor instruments. On this cruise he will be using the Subastian remotely operated vehicle to characterize the new hydrothermal vent sites along the Mariana back-arc.
Cruises:
