University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Geosciences Professor Dr. Robert J. Stern is co-author of an article in the May 25 issue of the prestigious journal Nature that describes the first direct observations and sampling of an eruption of a submarine arc volcano.

Stern was one of a number of scientists who took part in one of several National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led expeditions to explore the erupting volcano, located on the seafloor in the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean.  Additional information about the expeditions’ findings may be found on the NOAA website at http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2635.htm.

Robert J. Stern, Ph.D. Dr. Robert Stern, professor of geosciences at UTD, observed a volcano erupting on the seafloor near the Mariana Islands of the Western Pacific and wrote about it in the journal, Nature.

Stern is the former head of UTD’s Geosciences Department.  He is on a faculty development leave this academic year.  He spent the fall semester teaching and doing research at Stanford University, and is currently doing the same at the California Institute of Technology. Stern will resume his teaching and research duties at UTD in the fall.