International Training
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Dates for the International Course in 2026
New dates for 2026: June 6 - August 1.
New! Just published, and you can read the article for free. Assessing Human Resources Development in Volcano Observatories Using the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey A study by Juan Pablo Sarmiento, Florida International University, interviewing scientists in countries around the world, to find out the impact of the CSAV International course.
The 2025 International course is off to a great start, as participants enjoyed a spectacular fountaining eruption after midnight on 5 June, courtesy of Madame Pele.
Meghann Decker took the scientists on a tour of Kaumana Cave, an 1881 lava tube in Hilo. Scroll to the bottom of this page, for more images of the 2025 CSAV group!
Details of the International Training Course
The cost for this 8-week course is USD $9,000 (this cost includes housing). Participants need to provide their own airfare and food, in addition to the course fees.
To Apply: Download an Application Form; forms are due in the CSAV office on or before December 1.
Hawaiian volcanoes are among the most active in the world, but unlike violently explosive volcanoes they can be approached and studied without significant risk. As a result, the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes provides the ideal environment for practicing volcano monitoring techniques.
Visit the Smug Mug International site to see photos!
Overview
The International Training Program is designed to assist developing nations in attaining self-sufficiency in monitoring volcanoes. The field training emphasizes volcano monitoring methods, both data collection and interpretation, in use by the U.S. Geological Survey; participants are taught the use and maintenance of volcano monitoring instruments. Besides learning to assess volcanic hazards, participants learn the interrelationship of scientists, governing officials, and the news media during volcanic crises. A gallery of former participants showcases the 302 scientists and technicians, from 33 countries, who have attended from 1990 - 2025. The instructors come from volcano observatories of the US Geological Survey, and from the University of Hawaiʻi.
CSAV International scientists learn volcano monitoring techniques used by volcano observatories of the United States Geological Survey. Here, the 2011 CSAV group poses in front of the HVO sign at Kilauea Summit.
Course focus and objectives
The course is an introduction to a variety of volcano monitoring techniques, rather than detailed training with just one; hence, seismologists who attend will learn about deformation, gas geochemistry, and physical volcanology as well as geophysics. The course is not geared towards academics, but rather, addresses working in a crisis response mode, focusing on forecasting and rapid response to save lives and property.
Hawaiʻi Section: Six Weeks
The Hawaiʻi Section is held at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and covers physical geology, webcams, gas geochemistry, rock identification and mapping, Lahars, photogrammetry, seismology, remote sensing, deformation, and dealing with the press. Field work sites are Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.
View typical apartment housing where International scientists stay during the Hawaii section of the course.
Danny Hidayat (Indonesia) sets up a tribrach at UH Hilo, for a practice leveling survey.
Mikhail Herry (Papua New Guinea) collects a sample of molten lava near the ocean.
Philippine scientists work in the lab with samples of volcanic gas from Kilauea summit.
At the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Matt Patrick shows the CSAV group how seismic, tilt, and other telemetered signals correlate.
Groups are small, usually less than 12 students, so everyone gets a chance to work with scientific instruments and computer data.
CSAV students collect GPS data near Mauna Ulu; the information gathered will be compared to earlier baseline studies.
CVO Section: Two weeks
The CVO section is held in Vancouver, Washington and includes work at Cascades Volcano Observatory as well as field work at Mount St. Helens. Topics covered are stratigraphic sections, mapping, power systems, public outreach, event trees, and the relationship of scientists to media and Civil Defense.
Mount St. Helens provides an ideal setting to analyze and map tephra deposits.
After hiking into the crater of Mount St. Helens, the CSAV group makes a rough map.
Pablo Masias of Peru views trees blasted by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
After a day of field work, the CSAV group works on isopach maps of tephra.
At CVO, the CSAV scientists learn how to assemble a telemetry station.
The CSAV group participates in activities designed to teach the public about eruptions.
Who may apply
Scientists and technicians who work at volcano observatories in developing countries.
CSAV International participants come from volcano observatories throughout the developing world, including Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Application deadline: Applications for each summer's course must be received in the CSAV office by December 1 before the year applied for. For the 2026 International Course, applications must be received by December 1 2025. Download the pdf version of the International Application Form (PDF ).
If you are interested in learning about volcanology, but are NOT a scientist or civil worker in a developing country with active volcanoes, you may be interested in attending some of the exciting courses offered by the Geology Department of UH Hilo, including Geology of the Hawaiian Islands (GEOL 205 ) and Volcanology (GEOL 470 ). Read more about the Geology Department!
Written requests may be mailed to:
Center for the Study of Active VolcanoesUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
200 West Kāwili Street
Hilo, Hawaiʻi 96720-4091
Tel: (808) 932-7791
CSAV participants come from 33 different countries around the world.
The 2025 Summer Training Course is up and running!
This year, we have an outstanding group of scientists and technicians from Latin America and the Pacific, including Fiji for the first time!
CSAV 2025 participants are from El Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and the Philippines, Tonga, and Fiji.
The group enjoyed a tour of Hilo on the first day, to get oriented before lab and field work begins.
Everyone received a bicycle to borrow while in Hawaii, to use in their free time. The bikes were donated to CSAV by past students who graduated from UH Hilo.
The participants enjoyed a short overview of Kilauea summit on the first day of class, including Nahuku Lava Tube.
The CSAV group is seated at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory conference room, eagerly awaiting the Monday Morning Meeting briefing.
After spending the day at HVO, the group went to Reed's Bay to enjoy surfboards and a SUP; here, Saula (Fiji) kayaks out to the swimmers.
Penikolo (Tonga), Manuela (Colombia), and Robert (Philippines) sieve and prepare tephra samples from a June 2025 fountaining eruption.
Julian (Argentina) looks for olivine crystals in the tephra sample.
Folauhola (Tonga) analyzes the tephra sample under the binocular microscope.
Doreen (Phillipines), Marco (Ecuador) and Kevyn (El Salvador) work on tephra samples in the SEM Lab.
As HVO scientists Tricia Nadeau and Christine Sealing collect gas from Sulphur Banks, participants observe.
Manuela Mejia from Colombia checks on the FTIR, which reads the composition of gas in the eruption of 11 June 2025.
Here is an evening view of the same eruption, photo courtesy Matt Connelly, UH Hilo Marine Science.
Galleries of Recent Participants
- 2024 Gallery
- 2023 Gallery
- 2019 Gallery
- 2018 Gallery
- 2017 Gallery
- 2016 Gallery
- 2015 Gallery
- 2014 Gallery
- 2013 Gallery
- 2012 Gallery
- 2011 Gallery
- 2010 Gallery
- 2009 Gallery
- 2008 Gallery
- 2007 Gallery
- 2006 Gallery
- 2005 Gallery
- 2004 Gallery
- 2003 Gallery
- 2002 Gallery
- 2001 Gallery
- 2000 Gallery
- 1999 Gallery
- 1998 Gallery
- 1997 Gallery
- 1996 Gallery
- 1995 Gallery
- 1994 Gallery
- 1993 Gallery
- 1992 Gallery
- 1991 Gallery
- 1990 Gallery