Robby Goldman
He/Him
I am bi and I am a volcanologist.//
I am an NSF Graduate Research Fellow based in Los Angeles, working on a multi-disciplinary PhD in volcano geophysics and hazard communications. I am enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign while also volunteering with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program. I study the physics of eruptions from basaltic volcanoes in Hawai‘i and New Zealand, and how scientists communicate hazards to communities during an active eruption, including Kīlauea Volcano’s historically significant 2018 eruption. I am extremely grateful to be conducting research that helps me connect more deeply with my Hawaiian cultural heritage!
As a queer scientist who identifies as Native Hawaiian, Chinese American and white, I deeply appreciate the importance of building diverse communities among underrepresented STEM professionals. I am currently a member of 500 QS, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Geosciences (AAPIiG), and Fulbright Prism (for which I serve as the President of Prism’s U.S. West Coast Chapter). I have participated in Fulbright Prism’s 2020 and 2021 Global Pride Panels, with 2021’s panel focusing on “The Importance of Community-Building and Chosen Families.” I will also be a panelist for Missouri State University’s 18th annual Public Affairs Conference, titled “Bridging the Divide.”