Ayla Pamukçu in Iceland

Ayla Pamukçu joined the Stanford faculty in 2019, where her research involves observations and data spanning a range of scales and perspectives, from geology in the field to lab observations of microscopic crystals. She loves bringing this multifaceted information together to unlock the history of volcanoes. Professor Pamukçu spent a year in Turkey as a Fulbright Scholar exploring geoarchaeology, having studied geophysical sciences and Near Eastern languages and civilizations as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. Professor Pamukçu went on to receive her master’s and doctoral degrees at Vanderbilt University, where she examined the evolution and eruption of supereruptive magmas. She then held several postdoc positions (Brown, Princeton, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), during which she expanded her research.

Professor Pamukçu is inspired by ways in which humans coexist and interact with nature in Iceland. She is excited to learn more about how people have learned to live in the shadow of natural threats and the approaches they have developed to use the natural resources around them in positive ways. Though Iceland is a small island, its geology, particularly its volcanism, is complex and fascinating. In her lectures, Professor Pamukçu will address the general geology of Iceland, its volcanic and climatic history and the geothermal energy industry there.