Dr. Shan de Silva

Dr. Shan de Silva, the Department Chair and Professor of the Space Studies department at the University of North Dakota. Shan de Silva took up his duties as Chair of UND Space Studies in Fall 2001. Prior to this he had spent 11 years at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, teaching geology and astronomy. He also spent a year as Interim Director of the Faculty Computing Resource Center at Indiana State University. Prior to this he had spent three years as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX research the use of remote sensing to study volcanism and surface processes on the terrestrial planets. Dr. de Silva’s research now focuses on understanding planetary processes, with a particular focus on volcanism on the Earth and throughout the Solar System. Specific problems addressed by Shan and his students include the evolution of magma bodies, the morphological and chemical evolution of large stratovolcanoes, the nature of explosive eruptions, formation of large calderas, the effect of volcanoes on climate, and the use of satellite data, GIS, and GPS in volcanology. His broad interests in terrestrial volcanism and remote sensing are being used to address aspects of planetary volcanism as well. He has proposed to use the Central Andes as an analog terrain for Mars to address several key geologic issues there. Other current research projects include the use of GPS for volcanic hazard assessment and for atmospheric and geodetic research (SuomiNet), and studies of terrestrial impact craters like the Ries Crater in Germany. His research has been funded by the NSF and NASA. He has authored over 40 refereed papers and two monographs and is on the editorial board of Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. He is currently the Director of the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium and the North Dakota NASA EPSCoR Program. He also runs VolcanoWorld (http://volcano.und.nodak.edu) a premier web source for educational and public outreach materials on volcanoes. Shan de Silva is married to Lynette, a geologist/engineer at the Energy and Environmental Research Center, at UND. They have a daughter, Chiara, with whom he desperately tries to keep up. When he had leisure time, before he became a chairperson, he enjoyed brewing decent beer, which he liked to drink while eating spicy food and watching classic British comedy or sports. He winds down by listening to classic rock and jazz. He is a self-confessed techno- and information junkie and would watch or listen to the BBC World News and CNN all day if he had the chance. His non-academic interests are science fiction, cooking, rock-guitar, golf, and racket-sports. One day soon he hopes to rediscover these leisure activities.