CV + Publications
Credentials and papers
A short academic record: education, publications, selected talks, and awards. The full CV is available as a PDF.
Peer-reviewed Publications
- The plausible relationship between deep long-period earthquakes and volatiles: a case study of the Alaska-Aleutian arc.
McKee, K. F., Cauley, C., Rojas-Kolomiets, E., Li, Y., Hosseini, B., Daly, K., Ward, A., Roman, D. C., Wieser, P. E., Wallace, P. J., Fischer, T. P., Power, J. A., Plank, T., & Abers, G. A.
Bulletin of Volcanology, 88:115 (2026)
In short: Deep earthquakes beneath Alaskan volcanoes occur at depths where gases come out of solution in magma.
- Stealthy magma system behavior at Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska.
Li, Y., Gregg, P. M., Lu, Z., & Wang, J.
Frontiers in Earth Science, 13:1535083 (2025)
In short: Why a frequently erupting Alaskan volcano gives almost no warning. Covered by 30+ news outlets; Altmetric score in the top 1% of research outputs.
- Mantle sources and melting processes beneath East Antarctica: geochemical and isotopic (Sr, Nd, Pb, O) characteristics of alkaline and tholeiite basalt from the Earth's southernmost (87° S) volcanoes.
Panter, K. S., Li, Y., Smellie, J. L., Blusztajn, J., Reindel, J., Odegaard, K., Spicuzza, M. J., & Hart, S.
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 177:51 (2022)
In short: Where the magma for Earth's southernmost volcanoes came from.
Manuscripts Under Review and in Preparation
The difficulty of forecasting volcanic eruptions: A tale of three Aleutian volcanoes—Okmok, Westdahl, and Veniaminof.
Li, Y., & Gregg, P. M.
Geophysical Research Letters · Under review
Inflation Without Eruption: Unraveling Three Decades of Unrest at Westdahl Volcano, Alaska.
Li, Y., Gregg, P. M., Pettijohn, J. C., Wang, J., & Lu, Z.
JGR: Solid Earth · In preparation
Education & Positions
Ph.D. Candidate, Volcanology & Geophysics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Dissertation: Investigating Reservoir Dynamics at Three Aleutian Volcanoes: Implications for Future Eruption Forecasting (defended May 2026). Advisor: Patricia M. Gregg.
2020 – present
Graduate Research Assistant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2020 – present
Teaching Assistant, Natural Hazards and Geochemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2024 – 2025
Junior Participant, CIDER Summer Program, University of California, Berkeley
2023
Selected Presentations
Inflation Without Eruption: Unraveling Three Decades of Unrest at Westdahl Volcano, Alaska
Accepted abstract · AGU Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA
2026
Challenges in eruption forecasting - A tale of three volcanoes: Okmok, Westdahl, and Veniaminof, Alaska
Oral · AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA
2025
Stealthy Magma System Behavior at Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska
Webinar talk · CONVERSE Emerging Researcher Webinar Series (online)
2025
Why Do Some Volcanoes Erupt Without Warning? 'Stealthy' Eruptions at Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska
Poster · AGU Fall Meeting, Washington, D.C.
2024
Numerical Modeling to Investigate 'Stealthy' Eruption Behavior at Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska
Oral · AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA
2023
Awards and Fellowships
Texas-Louisiana Alumni and Bluestem Fellowship, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2021
Second-Place Poster Award, SESE Research Review, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2023
Conference travel grants for the AGU meetings, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2025, 2026