Eyjafjallajokull

I'm very excited by the volcanic activity in Iceland, like all volcanophiles I know! Most excited for my classmate in Volcanoes class who is there now, setting up instrumentation to monitor any lightning being produced in the ash column! The beautiful, effusive fissure eruption of the last couple of weeks has been replaced by a more explosive eruption under the glacier. The explosivity is likely a result of the interaction of lava and ice/water. Huge lahars have been generated that have washed out to the ocean. All volcano nuts wish for large eruptions, and the hope is that maybe Katla volcano next door will also erupt. Sorry for the people in Europe who are stranded and can't fly, but this is what volcanoes do. We must adapt to the changing environment. If anything, we can now see how vulnerable a thing perfectly taken for granted by everyone - uniterrupted air travel - can be completely shut down by a *small* act of nature. This is a TINY eruption, imagine if there was a much bigger one? I love seeing volcanoes in the news, it makes me feel more validated as a future-volcanologist: I've had to defend my choice of studying volcanoes so often to people that don't think it's important!

PS. Proper pronunciation: AYA-feeyatla-yokutl

Ecuador

Last summer, I took a grad level volcano geophysics class in Ecuador! It was the most fantastic volcanic experience I've ever had. We installed seismic and infrasound instruments on the flanks of Tungurahua volcano while it was exploding, rumbling and roaring overhead! We spent a week traveling in Ecuador to other active volcanoes, some of which we climbed (Guagua Pichincha, Reventador, part of Cotopaxi), while our instruments worked for us collecting data on Tungurahua. Then we collected and analyzed the data, some of which has now been presented at the annual AGU meeting. We even got to see a volcanic lahar (mudflow the consistency of wet concrete) while on the mountain, which is a very rare event to witness! Ecuador is a fantastically beautiful country, lush, green and a volcanologists heaven! The town of Banos where we stayed for two weeks is a hotsprings resort town, with TONS of things for the outdoor enthusiast to enjoy: biking, horseback riding, waterfall rapelling, canyoning, four-wheeling, hiking and volcano watching. The town is at the foot of Tungurahua, which is a potentially deadly threat to the surrounding communities. For this reason it is highly instrumented and monitored by the Ecuadorian Instituto Geophysico in Quito and there is a special observatory in a nearby valley with round-the-clock scientific observation. This is an amazing place, if you like volcanoes at all, try to take a vacation in this town, it is wonderful!