Transitions and Achievements

PROJECT VOLCAN TEAM MAKES HISTORY IN CANARY ISLANDS

The VolCAN team on location to collect gas samples.

When an interdisciplinary team from The University of New Mexico was awarded a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation in 2020, the goal was to develop novel, bio-inspired software and drones to measure and sample volcanic gases.

One year later, the Project VolCAN team got a spectacular opportunity to do just that — and make history in the process by becoming what is believed to be one of the first research teams to collect uncontaminated gases from an active volcanic eruption.

In late November 2021, UNM’s team flew a drone into the erupting Cumbre Vieja volcano at La Palma Island in Spain’s Canary Islands. The eruption, which began in September and ended in late December, was the largest in Europe in 500 years. Volcanic lava flows from Cumbre Vieja destroyed more than a thousand homes and covered significant parts of the Western side of the island with ash.

It is a dramatic and devastating occurrence but was a rare and perfect opportunity for the VolCAN team to put its resources to the test, so they did just that — navigating all the physical and bureaucratic hoops to make their way to the island with five drones and a handful of team members with the mission of collecting gas samples by flying drones into the volcano. The VolCAN team was one of several international research groups working on the eruption of Cumbre Vieja the time.

As the research team directed the UNM-programmed autonomous drones into the gas plumes, they protected themselves from the noxious gases by donning military-grade gas masks. But their risky efforts were a success, becoming what is believed to be the first team to sample uncontaminated gases from an erupting volcano for later carbon isotope analyses. This resulted in a treasure trove of data to help better understand the course of the eruption.

“The robot missions couldn’t have gone better,” said Matthew Fricke, one of the principal investigators on the VolCAN project and a research assistant professor of computer science. “We got uncontaminated gas samples from the plume that told us where the magma causing the eruption was coming from. No one has ever been able to do that during an eruption before. That data allows us to try and forecast the duration and intensity of the eruption.”

After collecting the gases, the team made CO2 concentration transects of the plume and obtained video footage of the eruption. These gas samples were analyzed for carbon isotopes in

collaboration with and using instrumentation of the local scientists on La Palma. The obtained data provides new insights into the nature and depth of the magma source in near real-time. This information, together with other data collected by numerous scientists from local and international institutions, will result in forecasts about the ongoing and future volcanic activity.

VolCAN is a collaboration between the School of Engineering (Departments of Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Earth and Planetary Sciences. It is led by Fricke, Melanie Moses and Jared Saia, faculty in the Department of Computer Science; Tobias Fischer, a professor and Scott Nowicki a Research Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Rafael Fierro, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and John Ericksen, a research assistant in computer science. FIVE FOR Anjali Mulchandani Anjali Mulchandani joined the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering in January 2021, right at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally from Southern California, she earned her bachelor’s degree from University of California, Los Angeles, then earned her master’s and Ph.D. from Arizona State University. She completed her postdoc at Stanford University, right before joining UNM.

What made you decide to go into engineering?

I wanted to solve grand challenges and environmental problems. I was interested in how to bring about change, and academia has the ability to do this through coming up with ideas that can be applied to the real world.

What is the focus of your research?

I am focused on finding solutions for our water crisis. There are three areas our group studies, which are 1). Diversifying your water portfolio, which includes a mix of traditional water sources like surface and groundwater, as well as non-traditional sources like the atmosphere, as in water capture methods like dehumidification of the air, and water reuse; 2). Resource recovery, in which we find methods to separate and recover valuable products in wastewater, and 3). Environmental remediation, in which we develop safe methods to clean water that is impacted by natural and human-caused contamination. All of these research areas have opportunities as well as significant challenges that need to be solved. An interdisciplinary, collaborative approach will be needed to solve these grand challenges.

Why did you decide to focus on water research?

I chose it because everyone needs water to survive. There is still not equitable access to water for all people living on Earth. UNM was a great place to be because of its location in the Southwest and the water challenges we face here, as well as collaboration with the Center for Water and the Environment, the Grand Challenge for Sustainable Water Resources, and the Metals Exposure and Toxicity Assessment on Tribal Lands in the Southwest (METALS) Superfund Research Center. Everyone understands how important water is here and is working together towards finding solutions.

Communication and outreach are key focuses of your work. What makes you passionate about that?

I’m passionate about teaching students about science communication. Communication and outreach of our research is integral for the broader public and policy makers to be aware of new advances and challenges. Science communication is a skill that our students can build that will help them with their own growth and prepare them to enter the workforce. I’m involved in UNM’s Grand Challenges (Sustainable Water Resources), and this spring, I worked with students in the first Grand Challenges Water Science Communication Scholarship.

What do you like to do for fun?

I like hiking and camping in New Mexico. I am also a member of Toastmasters because I want to continue to improve how I communicate with various communities and cultures.