Judy Fierstein

Judith Fierstein
Fierstein in 2019 in the Sierra Nevada
Title	Research Geologist
Academic background
Education	University of California, Santa Cruz (BS, MS)
Academic work
Discipline	Geologist researcher
Institutions	California Volcano Observatory
Website	www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/judith-fierstein

Judith Ellen Fierstein is a geologist and researcher employed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),^[1][2] and affiliated with the USGS California Volcano Observatory.^[3] Fierstein's research in geology has advanced the understanding of volcanism in Chile, including the history of Laguna del Maule. She is also a researcher on volcanoes in Alaska, where she is noted as an expert on Novarupta. Much of her research has been conducted with fellow geologist Wes Hildreth. They are both fellows of the Geological Society of America (GSA);^[4] she was nominated by Charles R. Bacon in 2007.^[5]

Fierstein received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1980 and a Master of Science degree in 1989, both from the University of California, Santa Cruz.^[6]: 18

Fierstein is best known for her work in the fields of volcanology and geologic mapping,^[7] having published papers on the geology of the Andes, Cascades, and the Sierra Nevada, as well as on the geology of Alaska. She is also known for giving engaging presentations to teach communities about her geologic work,^[8][9] including co-leading an interpretive hike at Devils Postpile National Monument in 2016.^[10]

Fierstein has also worked extensively in the study of tephra stratigraphy.^[11][12] as she has developed strategies for calculating the volume of volcanic tephra from a given eruption.^[13][14]

Fierstein was noted in Discover Magazine as a figure advancing women in geology; she has mentored multiple women who have successful careers in geology, including Michelle Coombs, who was a field assistant to Fierstein,^[15] and Terry Keith, who worked with Fierstein on research in Alaska.^[16]

Fierstein's partnership with her main research collaborator Wes Hildreth began in 1980 when Hildreth took the newly-graduated Fierstein on a trip to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in Katmai National Park and Preserve for geologic research.^[1][17] They have since become vital to each other's research, and they have collaborated on researching the Cascades, Andes, and Alaska.^[18]

Early in her career, Fierstein wrote articles on topics in Katmai, including the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and the volcano Novarupta. She wrote an article on the valley, published by Alaska Historical Society in 1984,^[19] and has continued publishing other papers on Katmai with Hildreth.^[20] A 278-page report by Hildreth and Fierstein about Novarupta's 1912 eruption was published by the USGS in 2012, the eruption's centennial year.^[21] The centennial garnered nationwide media coverage,^[22] and she presented about the occasion at community events,^[23] and to Alaska Public Media.^[24]

For her contributions to understanding the park's geology, she has been recognized as a "Novarupta-Katmai expert" by the USGS,^[25] an "expert on the 1912 eruption [of Novarupta]" by the Alaska Volcano Observatory,^[26] and as a "Katmai expert" by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.^[8]

Her research in Katmai has also uncovered errors in the research done by Robert Griggs,^[27] but has since corrected many of them.^[28] Fierstein's work has also been applied alongside the research of Bernard R. Hubbard for determining the geologic history of the area around Mount Aniakchak.^[29] Copies of a paper by Fierstein were found in the files of Father Hubbard after his passing.^[30]

Fierstein has also worked with volcanologist Colin Wilson on Alaskan research.^[31]

Fierstein's work in South America, including research at Laguna del Maule, led to the first ever tri-national hazards map, which included Chile and Argentina.^[32] Her tephra studies have also been applied to fill in the known eruptive history of the volcano.^[33]

Fierstein has contributed to geologic research in both the Mojave National Preserve and the Mono Basin of California.^[34][35] She was an advisor to a USGS postdoctoral fellowship on volcanic hazards at Mono Basin.^[36]

A professional paper by Fierstein and Hildreth was adapted into a "geonarrative" on the geology at Mammoth Mountain.^[37]

Fierstein has researched in the Cascades of both Washington and Oregon. She has researched the Three Sisters of Oregon,^[38] including an instance in which she collaborated with Hildreth and other contributors to create a geologic map of the Sisters' volcanic cluster.^[39]

Fierstein and Hildreth were also the first to research the stratigraphic structures making up Mount Adams in Washington and monitor the geologic changes at the mountain.^[40] They published a conference paper of their geologic mapping and geothermal assessment of Mount Adams in 1990,^[41] and went on to publish the geologic map with USGS in 1995.^[42]

Fierstein has also worked with geologist Dave Tucker on research in the North Cascades. Tucker assisted in collecting samples for Hildreth and Fierstein at Mount Baker in the 1990s for a 2003 publication on its eruptive history.^[43]

Fierstein's work with Hildreth has also been used for documenting the seismic hazards present in Western Washington.^[44]

Along with Wes Hildreth, Fierstein won the Florence Bascom Geologic Mapping Award from the GSA in 2019.^[45] They were nominated by Colin Wilson.^[46]

Also in collaboration with Hildreth, she won the Outstanding Publication award from the Association of Earth Science Editors.^[47]

Fierstein is an Associate Editor of the Bulletin of Volcanology.^[48] She has also served as a manuscript reviewer for the journal Geology.^[49]