Tobias Fischer

Biography

Tobias obtained his Ph.D. in 1999 from Arizona State University and then held a post-doctoral
position at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He was a faculty member at the University
of New Mexico from 2000 to 2025 where he led research and teaching activities in volcanology
and directed the Volatiles Laboratory. With students and collaborators, he investigates
processes in active volcanic, hydrothermal, and tectonic systems utilizing gas geochemistry.
Tobias joined the Earth Science Department at UCSB in July 2025 as Professor and the director
of the Earth Research Institute.

Research Statement

My expertise is in active volcanic and hydrothermal systems and my research focus is on
volatiles in these systems. In our group we aim to address these fundamental questions: 1)
what are the compositions, sources and emission rates of volatiles discharging from volcanic
arcs, hot spots, and continental rifts and what is the role of these emissions in global
geochemical cycles? 2) what are the processes that lead to volcanic eruptions and how can we
use multi-disciplinary approaches to better anticipate the onset, duration, and style of eruptions?
In our laboratory we routinely analyze major and trace gases emitted from craters, fumaroles,
and springs. My current research also involves the utilization of drones and developments of
continuous gas sensing to obtain data during eruptions to constrain the processes underlying
volcanic events.