Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Stephanie Grocke earned her B.A. in Geology from Colby College and her Ph.D. in Volcanology from Oregon State University. She served as a postdoctoral scholar at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of National History, and as a NSF-Fulbright Arctic Research Scholar at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, where she investigated the gas emissions from the 2014-2015 Bardarbunga eruption in Iceland, the largest by volume in the country for more than 200 years.  Stephanie’s research explores the most explosive volcanism on Earth. Supereruptions, as they are referred to, have the potential to cause devastating hazards and changes to global climate; Stephanie’s research aims to identify the magmatic processes that result in this style of volcanism.