Media & Outreach

In the media

Harvard FAS story: Mapping source of volcanic activity deep within the Earth

Harvard FAS · Sep 2026

Mapping the source of volcanic activity deep within Earth

Interview about our 2026 Science paper, which combines graph theory and AI to build a joint geophysical–geochemical map of the deep mantle beneath East Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Read the story

Watch the Harvard Data Science Initiative interview
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Harvard Data Science Initiative · Video

Reading Greenland’s ice loss from sea level

Video interview about our project using machine learning and sea-level fingerprints to track Greenland ice loss.

Watch on YouTube

Global map of hotspot temperatures

International press · Jan 2022

Some volcanic hotspots are surprisingly cold

Coverage of our 2022 Science paper showing that not all hotspots are fed by hot mantle plumes.

Science News New Scientist New Scientist (NL) Popular Science Deutschlandfunk

Talks

IGCP 648 Virtual Seminar · Invited talk

Are hotspots hotter than ridges?

A recorded seminar on how seismic tomography and mineral physics reveal the temperatures beneath volcanic hotspots and mid-ocean ridges.

Outreach

Xiyuan showing plumes visualized with thermochromic liquid crystals and a lava lamp to visitors

Explore Your Universe, UCLA · 2019–2022

Why is Hawaii a volcano?

Explore Your Universe is the largest public science event in Los Angeles, with over 10,000 visitors each year. Since 2019 I led a booth on hotspots like Hawaii, with hands-on demonstrations using thermochromic liquid crystals and a lava lamp, plus online tutorials for K-12 students and up. The posts are hosted on my PhD group website, which I also built and maintained.

EYU 2019 EYU 2020 EYU 2022 Virtual booth on YouTube

  • Invited outreach article. Rocks beneath volcanic hotspots can be surprisingly cool, The Science Breaker, Jan 2022. Read
  • Lab tour for visitors from Tokyo Tech. UCLA, Feb 2020. Post