Welcome to MOnSTER Lab
featuring
PI: Dr. Madison Myers
and her amazing
Current Graduate Student Researchers
Carly Ross has been at Montana State University since 2022, graduating with a geology BS in 2025. Dr. Myers advised Carly as an undergraduate student, encouraging them to take her Igneous petrology course, ultimately informing their decision to pursue hard rock geochemistry and a graduate position in the MoNSTER Lab. Carly’s current research involves deciphering pre-eruptive conditions of the 1997 eruption of Okmok Volcano in the Aleutian Arc of Alaska. Utilizing petrography, mircoscopy, diffusion chronometry, and crystal clusters, they aim to better understand the events that lead up to this eruption.
Carly Ross, MSc 2024-
Undergraduate Researchers
Postdoctoral researchers
Dr. Behnaz Hosseini
Bio: I am a postdoctoral researcher in the MonStER Lab, where I received my PhD in 2024. Prior to beginning my graduate studies at Montana State University, I received my B.A. in Geology from the University of California, Berkeley, and subsequently worked as a Guest Scientist/Geoscience Technician in Yellowstone National Park for two years.
My undergraduate research on the 2012 submarine eruption of Havre volcano, my experience working in Yellowstone, and a brief stint as a volunteer with the Cascades Volcano Observatory all spurred my interest in pursuing graduate research in volcano science. I am broadly interested in magma ascent dynamics in explosive eruptions, and my primary research interest is decrypting timescales of magmatic processes recorded in crystals and glasses via volatile/trace element diffusion modeling. I am currently completing a volatile assessment of the 2009 eruption of Mount Redoubt.
Outside of scientific research, I am interested in science outreach and communication; during my graduate tenure, I hope to work with other members of the MonStER Lab to establish enduring science outreach programs that will directly benefit the local community. My other interests (time-permitting) include ice skating and hockey, hiking, finger-style guitar, reading, and cooking.
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Paper 1 Paper 2
Meet the Graduated Researchers
Since 2019 we have seen many amazing undergraduates move on to careers and graduate school, and several graduate students receive their degrees and progress.
Natali Kragh
PhD 2020-2026 (expected)
Bio: I am currently finishing up my PhD at Montana State University working in Yellowstone National Park. I completed my B.S. in Geology at Montana State in 2017. Following graduation, I worked as a contract geologist making maps for the Wyoming State Geological Survey and as a jewelry sales associate specializing in Montana and Yogo sapphires.
My current research is developing a new geologic map of Yellowstone National Park at a 1:100,000 scale. I am thrilled to be a part of this project as it builds on my skills developed while mapping in Wyoming, is teaching me so much about volcanic rocks and requires an absurd amount of hiking around a national park, the whole reason I got into geology in the first place! Along with mapping, I am interested in geochemistry and mineralogy of volcanic, igneous, and metamorphic rocks as well as the intersection between art and geology. My non-academic interests include cooking, sitting in hot springs, camping, and playing pool (in fact, my go-to ice breaker is how a ghost named Fat Mike taught me how to play pool (ask me about it sometime!)) After finishing my master’s in 2022, I hope to earn a PhD and continue working on Montana and Wyoming’s geology.
Stacy Henderson
PhD 2020-2026 (expected)
Bio: Stacy Henderson is scheduled to defend her PhD Fall 2026. Stacy received her B.S. in geology from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT. Her undergraduate research and thesis used 40Ar/39Ar dating and paleomagnetic data to determine ages of basalt flows within the Yellowstone Volcanic Field. Stacy has long had an interest in volcanoes and her undergraduate research experience solidified her excitement about studying volcanic systems. She then received her M.S. in geology from Idaho State University. Her thesis titled “Water-driven Basalt Alteration: Kilauea, Hawai’i as an Analog for Mars” examined hydrothermal alteration of basalts via fumarolic activity and the resulting geochemistry of the rocks in order to understand endolithic microbial community habitability.
Her current research with the MonStER lab focuses on ignimbrite emplacement and magma chamber configuration of the 6.31 Ma Lava Creek Tuff eruption of the Yellowstone Volcanic Field. She is excited to continue this journey with Dr. Madison Myers at Montana State University. Stacy hopes to mentor undergraduates and work on outreach to get new generations excited about science and earth science during her time here and in the future.
Stacy was raised in Utah where she spent both her summers and winters playing in the mountains. She still loves spending time in the mountains and in her free time Stacy loves hanging out with her dog Athena, hiking, mountain biking, x-country skiing, snowboarding, camping, and more. She plays the drums and is learning to play the guitar.
Liv Wheeler
MSc 2024-2026
I earned my Master's degree at Montana State University researching the eruptions that makeup Yellowstone National Park. I earned an undergraduate degree in Environmental Geosciences with a concentration in Geophysics and a minor in Digital Humanities at Michigan State University in 2024. I've spent two months mapping the Tobacco Root Mountains of Montana and a month on Santa Catalina Island researching geochemical differences in ocean foraminifera. Fun fact: I caught hypothermia and frostbite from snorkeling between the two tectonic plates that make up Iceland. My current research is remapping the Mount Jackson and Madison Junction Quadrangles at a 1:24,000 scale. This allows for a more in-depth analysis of Yellowstone's most recent eruptions: the Lava Creek Tuff and the Mount Jackson Rhyolite. This research requires backcountry hiking through gorgeous terrain (So far I've seen a wolf pack and flown in a helicopter over Yellowstone Lake) and trace and element analysis to distinguish units within Lava Creek and Mount Jackson. When I'm not in the lab or field, I'm hiking and camping, crocheting, watching movies, painting, doing yoga, and being a cat mom to my sweet girl, Mae Mae.
Bel Liscomb
MSc 2024-2026
I earned my Master's degree at Montana State University researching the Elkhorn Volcanic Field, working to define and correlate volcanic units within the Crow Creek Quad. This work was in collaboration with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. Prior to starting at MSU, I earned an undergraduate degree at William and Mary.
Ray Salazar
MSc 2021-2023
After completing my undergraduate degree and starting researcher in the MoNSTER lab, I earned my Master's degree at Montana State University researching the new ignimbrite units in the Sour Creek dome, Yellowstone.
Post graduation I worked as a mapper with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology prior to being hired full time as a volcanology mapper for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.
Check out my MSc research!
Dr. Megan Saalfeld
Ph.D. 2018-2022
Website: volcanomegan.wordpress.com
Bio: Megan Harris graduated December 2022 with her PhD. Here research applied geochemical approaches to answer questions about magmatic processes and magma ascent. The objective of was to understand and quantify how differences in decompression history the extent to which preeruptive processes influence this behavior. To answer these questions, her PhD will focused on determining magma ascent rates for eruptions that formed both the upper and lower Bandelier tuff and the 1991 Pinatubo eruption. These two projects explored ideas such as 1) how preexisting conduits influence decompression rates 2) how decompression rates change when using 1D and 2D diffusion models 3) how decompression rates evolve over the course of an eruption from which we have observations of changes in eruptive parameters 4) how decompression rates obtained from diffusion modeling compares to other methods such as CSD and BND and 5) how reentrants are formed in the first place.
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Publication 1​
Publication 2​
Where is she now? Employed as a LA-ICP-MS technician living in the Bay area with her husband Spencer,
