Mountains of Fire

GSO Professor Haraldur Sigurdsson, one of the world's pre-eminent volcanologists, describes his life's work.

Despite the dangerous nature of his work, Sigurdsson has never been seriously injured on his job. Over the years, however, he has lost several friends to volcanoes.

Sigurdsson's most recent book, Melting the Earth, is a fascinating look at the history of mankind's attempts to understand and explain volcanoes.

Mountains of Fire

By Laura Nelson

A trim, athletic man whose quiet demeanor belies his passionate attachment to, and curiosity about, the natural world, Sigurdsson has become something of a celebrity as a result of his work on volcanoes. Because of his unique understanding of the workings and history of many of the world's most famous volcanoes and his ability to express complex ideas in ways that lay people can understand, he is frequently called upon to appear in documentaries for National Geographic and other organizations that are regularly aired on television. In the spring of 2000, Sigurdsson was even a guest on the Today show and was flown over to Iceland for an interview with the show's host, Matt Lauer.

Sigurdsson's fascination with volcanoes started when he was a small boy growing up in the volcanic regions of western Iceland, a country that counts at least 30 active volcanoes within its borders. According to Sigurdsson, volcanoes are in his blood. "At least two of my ancestors have also made a living from volcanoes or their products, although in a much more practical manner than I have in my academic career," he writes in the preface of his latest book, Melting the Earth: The History of Ideas on Volcanic Eruptions. "My great-great-great grandfather...was in charge of the sulfur mine near Husavik in North Iceland, where the bright yellow sulfur encrustations were scraped off the surface of hot fumaroles...my grandfather...made a living as a stone mason and split many a volcanic stone in Iceland, including the rocks that were used to build the House of Parliament in Reykjavik."

Although Rhode Island is a long way from Iceland and from any type of volcanoes or volcanic activity, it has nonetheless been Sigurdsson's home since 1975. That was the year he joined URI as a member of the geological oceanography faculty specializing in petrology and volcanology. Today, Sigurdsson teaches courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level, and his class on "Volcanoes and the Environment" for undergraduates is perennially oversubscribed because it is so popular.

He loves his adopted home of Rhode Island, citing the beauty of the coastline and ways of the people. "I like the New England culture more than any other in America. It's closer to European culture than anywhere else in the U.S."

Sigurdsson should know because his work has enabled him to travel extensively. He has been to every continent on earth, with the exception of Antarctica. He returns to Iceland at least once or twice a year to see friends and family (his two daughters live there). He has also spent a great deal of time in Indonesia, which he cites as one of his favorite places.

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