My research mainly focuses on the petrology and geochemistry of volcanic rocks.  

I have two principal research areas at present. The first uses short-lived radionuclide abundances to study degassing and crystallization processes in young lavas and tephras. Volcanoes presently under investigation include Kilauea, Mount St. Helens, Mount Erebus, Augustine, Merapi, Llaima, as well as several other intraplate, rift, and subduction-related volcanoes. The second studies the petrology and geochemistry of Eocene lavas erupted in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana forearc to determine the causes of subduction initiation and the subsequent evolution of the subducting slab-mantle wedge system.