Meet the Scientists and Crew!

Todd Bianco

Todd Bianco is a PhD student of Garrett Ito's, at UH Manoa. His Masters thesis explored flexural uplift of the lithosphere as a cause of rejuvenation volcanism at Hawaii. In this model, the growth of a new volcano over the hotspot (like Kilauea) causes the lithosphere surrounding the volcano to flex downward near the volcano, but also upward far from the volcano. The hot mantle beneath the upward flexing lithosphere undergoes a little bit of decompression, which can restart melting far from the hotspot at volcanoes that were presumably dormant. Currently, Todd is modeling mantle plume dynamics and melting to make predictions of the change in volcano geochemistry with time at hotspots like Hawaii.

Todd Bianco, University of Hawaii, PHD candidate

Reason for joining the cruise. I am a student of Garrett's, and I have published with Ito and Garcia on rejuvenation volcanism at Hawaii.
Education BS physics at Rhode Island, MS at Univ. of Hawaii
Current research. mantle melting and dynamics to make predictions about hotspot volcano geochemistry.
Going out to sea is a great opportunity to get involved in a huge project with a lot of great scientists, but also there is a chance that other research not related to the cruise will come out of the conversations we have day to day.
Being a scientist has given me the opportunity to learn the most about myself. The critical thinking, interpretation, and imagination we practice everyday has helped me learn more about my own opinions, how I know what I think I know, and what assumptions I am using when I make a decision.

Presented by the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii, with financial support from the National Science Foundation.