Scientist Talk: The Many Languages of Magma

NESTA Earth and Space Education Hour (May 2,1, 2026) Our earth is a vessel that is constantly recycling heat and material. As humans, we can interpret the many signals that moving hot rock sends to the surface to better understand the earth and our relationship with it. Honing our ability to detect changes in rising magmas is paramount for volcano monitoring efforts because the magnitudes and timescales of changes in magma properties (i.e. how bubbly or viscous they are) have been linked to modulating eruption explosivity and duration. Recently active ocean island rift-zone systems, such as Kīlauea (Hawaiʻi), Cumbre Vieja (La Palma, Canary Islands), Piton de la Fournaise (La Réunion Island), and Reykjanes (Iceland), are excellent natural labs to investigate the links between the physical properties of magma and surface monitoring signals, or languages (melt chemistry, seismic tremor, gas fluxing, etc.). For this NESTA webinar, new volcanological research is shared that contributes to our understanding of how we may “hear” changes in magma properties that take place in the upper crust preceding months-long eruptions. This webinar discussion will also draw parallels between scientific and artistic languages of understanding volcanic processes with an aim to reflect on the very human experience of listening to our planet’s movements. Presenter - Samantha Tramontano Samantha Tramontano is a geologist specializing in the chemical and physical study of igneous rocks at volcanic systems. She combines field, lab, and computational methods to decipher subsurface processes that trigger and sustain volcanic eruptions. Her work has taken her to volcanic rocks in New York, New Jersey, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Brazil, Italy, Iceland, and the Canary Islands. She additionally works in close cohort with artists and musicians in an effort to capture a more comprehensive record of modern volcanic processes. Samantha grew up on Staten Island and is a graduate of P.S. 23, I.S. 24, LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, the University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, and the CUNY Graduate Center. She maintains a research associate position at the American Museum of Natural History and is excited to continue her studies and work with students as a new Assistant Professor at CUNY-York College. Samantha is also supported by the Boston Museum of Science as a science communication fellow and can be found online @samtramrox (Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube).