Cooperative Research
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Monitoring & Assessment of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes
CSAV's cooperative research program enables us to work with and provide specialized support to the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and includes seismologic, geodetic, and geochemical monitoring and analysis. This program, established in 1998 thanks to the late Senator Daniel Inouye, helps HVO to better fulfill its mission to monitor Hawaiʻi's volcanoes and to manage their potential hazards. The program also helps CSAV in its mission to provide state-of-the-art training in volcano hazards monitoring and to improve public awareness of volcano hazards in Hawaiʻi. UH Hilo Geology majors get valuable experience assisting HVO scientists in research projects. Here are some examples, both past and present, of work done under the Coop Grant.
UH Hilo Geology Major Lichen Forster prepares olivine crystals from episode 19 of the Kīlauea 2025 summit eruption for analysis.
UH Hilo Geology alum Analeise Dilley picks minerals from basaltic andesites from the Kamakai'a Hills in the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano.
UH Hilo Geology major Kamalani Poepoe looks through a laser range finder at Kīlauea caldera with USGS HVO geologist Kendra Lynn.
The UH Hilo Geology Lab provides an ideal space for analyzing rock and tephra samples. Students work with our faculty and staff to process rock samples quickly and efficiently, especially during an eruptive crisis where rapid turnaround is critical.
Geochemical Monitoring
In 2024 HVO hosted Kamalani Poepoe, a University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo undergraduate geology major as a PIPES intern in the Kaʻao (Research) pathway, Kama pursued a project focused on analyzing the chemistry of Kīlauea's June 2023 eruption. On her first day, she was thrust into eruption response, assisting HVO staff in analyzing samples from a new, brief eruption. Her research helped reveal that the magma for the June 2023 eruption came from multiple storage regions beneath the volcano's summit. Beyond her scientific contributions, Kama also shared Native Hawaiian practices with HVO staff, like presenting an offering (ho‘okupu) and a chant (ʻoli) during fieldwork. This collaboration enriched both the scientific and cultural understanding of the team.
The PIPES program provides a crucial foundation for students like Kama to gain valuable scientific research experience, and HVO looks forward to future mentorship opportunities.
HVO PIPES intern Kamalani Poepoe and colleagues prepare samples from Kīlauea’s June 2024 eruption for analysis.
CSAV has supported the gas geochemistry group in the ongoing development of a new generation of miniaturized correlation spectrometers that have replaced the now-obsolete Barringer Research COSPEC. CSAV provided equipment and supplies for fabrication of calibration cells for the new instruments, developed by SOEST colleagues Drs. Keith Horton and Harold Garbiel, and CSAV staff developed a simplified process for filling the calibration cells that substantially reduced the cost of building a complete system. The Coop program has also contributed major equipment to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's geochemical monitoring program: an OP-FTIR (Open-Path Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), used to analyze the composition of volcanic gas in the field.
Miki Warren, UH Hilo Geology graduate, was hired under the Coop to assist the HVO Gas Geochemistry team beginning in 2019. Miki had spent years as a volunteer for HVO, while simultaneously earning her college degree. She also had volunteered with UH Hilo Professor Ryan Perroy's drone research (collecting aerial video of the 2018 Puna lava flows), and assisting Professor Steve Lundblad in documenting cracks around Kilauea Caldera following the 2018 collapse. This wealth of experience made Miki a prime candidate for the Coop job. What was it like for Miki, to be on the front line, monitoring a new eruption at Halemaumau that appeared with very few precursors, on the night of 20 December 2021? Miki explains, "I got a call from Tamar at 10:30 pm Sunday night. I was on standby until I got the official word about half an hour later to head to the USGS-HVO warehouse in Kea’au and pick up the gas team’s FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer) to bring to the summit. I went out with the gas team that night and collected geochemical spectral data using the light emitted from the new lava fountain in Halema’uma’u. The next morning I came home and slept for two hours, grabbed new sulfur dioxide sensors, and headed back to meet the other gas gals for another full day of volcanic gas measurements." As of 2024, Miki is now a USGS Physical Science Technician at HVO.
Miki Warren uses a research vehicle, with a COSPEC attached, to drive beneath the volcanic plume and determine gas composition.
Back when Halaemaumau had a water lake, scientists collected samples of the water for analysis; here, Miki assists in carefully labeling each sample.
In December 2020, Halemaumau began a new summit eruption, and the HVO Gas Team immediately assembled equipment to measure the gas composition from the new lava. Photo by Miki Warren, courtesy HVO.
Seismic Analysis
Two decades ago, UH Hilo graduate Jason Meyer installed broadband seismometers inside Kilauea's summit caldera, allowing scientists to collect detailed information over a much larger range of bandwidth than is provided by standard seismometers. In 2020, Kass Ulmer joined the Coop team as a seismic analyst, and by this time, the 2018 caldera collapse had occurred. This collapse left sections of Crater Rim Drive severely damaged. To monitor future events in the area, new seismometers are being installed in strategic locations, to protect health and safety.
Jason Meyer installs a seismic station on Kilauea, in 2003, on the floor of Kilauea Caldera.
Kass Ulmer, seismic analyst, hikes out with the HVO team to install a seismometer. This section of Crater Rim Drive was heavily damaged during the 2018 caldera collapse. Photo courtesy HVO.
Geology and Mapping
The Cooperative Research grant allows geologists to assist researchers at HVO. Past assistants have monitored the eruption of Kilauea and maintained the GIS data base, and developed lava flow risk maps for Mauna Loa. Current projects range from monitoring eruptions, to analyzing tephra and lava samples in the UH Hilo Geology Lab.
Katie Mulliken worked at HVO under the Coop Grant for years as a geologist. She assisted HVO with field work. Katie Mulliken and Liliana Desmither worked as a team in keeping the public and officials informed about current volcanic activity. As of 2024, Katie and Liliana are now a permanent geologists at HVO. Katie is now the Public Information Officer for HVO.
Katie Mulliken documents cracks in the road at Leilani Estates in 2018.
This photo by Katie Mulliken, courtesy HVO, shows the eruption of Halemaumau that began in December 2020.
Public Outreach
Although the Coop Program's primary focus is on research, a percentage of the funding is used for educating the public about the hazards resulting from volcanic eruptions. As the HVO website states:
“The best defense against any natural hazard is education. Residents and public officials should be aware of the hazards in a given area so that they can make rational decisions regarding where to build homes, develop property for commercial use, and locate public facilities. A well-informed public will neither overreact to the hazards nor ignore them.”
Nanako Kohagura discussing hazards at an outreach event.
The Cooperative Research program partial support for research involving volcanology and social science in order to understand 1) the societal factors that influence risk from volcanic hazards in Hawaiʻi and 2) public attitudes toward the mitigation of lava flows with controversial and politically sensitive measures such as earthen barriers. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa graduate student Chris Gregg analyzed previously lost and forgotten survey data collected during the 1960 eruption of Kilauea volcano in Kapoho in order to understand public attitudes toward lava flow hazard mitigation strategies. This effort involved a detailed sequence of surveys conducted on the island both before and after dissemination of volcano hazards information on the island. Public outreach about volcanic hazards is ongoing, a recent graduate from UH Hilo Nanako Kohagura has been working with HVO at outreach events within the community.
David Carvalho and a young visitor examine a model of an eruption