Dr. Christy Till is a geologist and Associate Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at Arizona State Universitywho leads a multidisciplinary research program that studies the role of magma in the formation and evolution of planets, known as the EPIC lab. Her research and that of the EPIC lab includes determining the timescales and triggers for eruptions at active volcanoes in the US, including Yellowstone, growing minerals and magma in high pressure and temperature laboratory experiments, and studying likely compositions of magma and crusts on exoplanets. She received her BS & MS at UC Santa Barbara and PhD at MIT and was employed by the US Geological Survey prior to starting at ASU in 2014.
Her work has been recognized with a variety of awards including the American Geophysical Union's 2024 Reginald Daly Lecture, an NSF CAREER grant, and the 2019 Early Career Award from the Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Volcanology & Petrology Division of the Geological Society of America. Research from the EPIC lab has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, USA Today, and Time and on programs from National Geographic, NPR, PBS, and AZ Channel 12. She also has been elected to a number of scientific leadership positions, including for SZ4D, and the Board of Directors, the Council and section leadership for the American Geophysical Union, the largest professional organization of Earth and space scientists. Prior to her career as scientist, Dr. Till was employed full-time as a professional ballet dancer for five years in two world-renowned companies.
Dr. Till also is committed to inclusive excellence, as well as improving science communication. To this aim, she has served as the Associate Director for an Inclusive Community in SESE and was an inaugural AGU LANDInG Fellow (2021-2023), where she started her work on re-envisioning the processes around graduate qualifying exams and assessment. She also works with a variety of communities at Arizona State University, including at the intersection of the arts and science.
Recent Notable Events
January 2025: Started a two year term on AGU's Board of Directors & as a SESE Associate Director
December 2024: Awarded AGU's Reginald Daly Lecture
Check out the EPIC lab's most recent papers on thermobarometry, exoplanetary magma genesis, magma flux at arcs and more...
Fall 2021-2023: AGU LANDInG Academy Fellow (Inaugural Cohort)
July 2021-July 2022 Sabbatical
July 2020-2021: Held position as Associate Director in SESE
July 2020: Granted Tenure and promoted to Associate Professor
September 2019: 2019 MGVP Early Career Awardee & Invited talk, Geo. Society of America Meeting