Dr. Steven Carey is a faculty member of the Marine Geology and Geophysics group at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island. He is co-principal investigator on the Thera science expedition. His research interests lie mainly in the processes of explosive volcanism and the impact of large eruptions on the natural environment and human populations. During the past two decades he has studied volcanoes in 13 different countries including Krakatau in Indonesia, Mt. Vesuvius in Italy, and Mt. St. Helens in the United States. In addition to the Thera expedition, he is currently working on projects dealing explosive volcanism at Mt. Hudson in Chile, the growth and evolution of the submarine volcano Kick’em Jenny off the coast of Grenada, and computer simulations of volcanic ash transport in the atmosphere. Recently, he has been interested in developing web-based educational exercises dealing with volcanoes and is finishing up a virtual web tour of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum that were buried by the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius.

Steve has been active on committees of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior and is currently on the editorial board for the journal Geology. He has served on national committees for the Ocean Drilling Program and participated in numerous oceanographic expeditions. His undergraduate degree was completed at the University of Massachusetts and his PhD was carried out at the University of Rhode Island.