Master of Science in Volcanology University of Naples Federico II

🎬 Professor Claudio Scarpati featured in National Geographic's Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston

We are proud to share that Prof. Claudio Scarpati, from the Department of Earth, Environmental and Resources Sciences (DISTAR), University of Naples Federico II, contributed as a scientific consultant to the National Geographic documentary-drama Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston.

Drawing on his expertise in the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius, Prof. Scarpati advised on the eruptive dynamics, volcanic deposits, and their impacts on people, cities and archaeological heritage, helping bring the latest volcanological research to an international audience.

The three-part series is available on National Geographic and Disney+.

Congratulations to Prof. Scarpati on this outstanding contribution to science communication! 🌋

🌋 Meet our Professors – Prof. Claudio Scarpati

Our Meet our Professors series continues with Prof. Claudio Scarpati.

In this interview, Prof. Scarpati shares how growing up on the slopes of Vesuvius and a pivotal field experience during his PhD shaped his career in volcanology. He introduces his courses on Physical and Field Volcanology, explains how volcanic deposits and archaeological sites help reconstruct past eruptions, and encourages students to develop strong observational skills through fieldwork and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Discover more about his research, his teaching, and his passion for understanding explosive eruptions through both geology and archaeology.

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself? Tell us about your current position and your main research interests.

I am Claudio Scarpati, Associate Professor of Volcanology at the University of Naples Federico II. My research focuses on explosive eruptions: how eruption columns, tephra fallout and pyroclastic density currents form, travel and leave their record in the landscape. I work mainly on Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei, from the Campanian Ignimbrite to the AD 79 eruption. A distinctive part of my work takes place in archaeological sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Somma Vesuviana and Pollena Trocchia, where volcanic deposits, damaged buildings and human remains allow us to investigate how eruptions affect people, cities and cultural heritage.

2. Which course(s) do you teach in the Master in Volcanology, and what can students expect to learn from them?

I teach some credits for Physical Volcanology and am responsible for Field Volcanology. In Physical Volcanology I examine the physics of explosive eruptions, including magma fragmentation, eruption columns, fallout, pyroclastic density currents and the deposits they produce. Two field excursions - one to Vesuvius and one to Campi Flegrei - connect models with real stratigraphy. Field Volcanology develops the practical skills required to describe, measure, map, correlate and interpret volcanic successions. Students should expect to use notebooks, grain-size charts and their legs: volcanoes are rarely located beside a comfortable seminar room.

3. How did you become interested in volcanology? Was there a particular experience, person, or moment that inspired your career?

Growing up on the slopes of Vesuvius probably gave me little chance of ignoring volcanoes. The decisive scientific encounter came in 1987, during my PhD, when I worked in the field with Professor Richard Fisher. I volunteered to guide him through Campanian Ignimbrite outcrops while he investigated the transport of pyroclastic currents. During that work we found the elusive pumice-fall deposit beneath the ignimbrite, evidence of an opening Plinian phase. I thought I was simply helping him find outcrops; instead, that discovery set the direction of much of my research for the next three decades.

4. What is the most exciting or rewarding aspect of your research?

The most rewarding part is reading volcanic deposits as evidence and reconstructing not only what an eruption did, but how it was experienced on the ground. Archaeological sites are extraordinary natural laboratories: at Pompeii or Herculaneum, stratigraphy can be compared directly with collapsed roofs, damaged walls, escape routes and victims. The work sometimes feels like forensic investigation, only with a delay of about two thousand years. I also enjoy communicating these results through public lectures, interviews and documentary scripts. I have worked as a scientific consultant and interviewee for productions by National Geographic, Discovery Channel, ARTE and RAI - perhaps the safest way to combine volcanology with my unrealised ambition to become a film director.

5. What advice would you give to students who are considering a career in volcanology or geosciences?

Learn to observe before you interpret. Spend as much time as possible in the field, but also build a solid foundation in physics, chemistry, sedimentology and quantitative methods. Volcanology is inherently interdisciplinary, so learn to work with petrologists, geophysicists, archaeologists, historians and risk specialists. Be patient with incomplete evidence and be ready to revise your favourite hypothesis: a pyroclastic deposit is remarkably indifferent to how elegant your model is. Curiosity, rigour and collaboration matter more than pretending to have immediate answers.

6. If you could take your students to visit just one volcano anywhere in the world, which one would you choose and why?

Vesuvius. I have visited volcanoes on several continents, but my preferred volcanoes remain those of my home region: Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei. Vesuvius offers exceptional deposits from many explosive eruptions, a dramatic record of interaction with Pompeii, Herculaneum and other Roman sites, and an immediate lesson in volcanic risk because a large population lives around it today. I would, however, try to negotiate a short extension of the 'one volcano' rule and take the students to Campi Flegrei as well - purely for scientific completeness, of course.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded at Campi Flegrei: further confirmation of the volcanic system dynamics

The Md 4.7 earthquake, which occurred on 31 July 2026 at 19:46, was the most energetic earthquake ever recorded in the Campi Flegrei caldera since systematic volcanic monitoring began. The earthquake was located along the northern edge of the caldera's seismogenic volume, which is becoming increasingly well defined as an elliptical ring that bounds the seismicity.

Based on geological field evidence, the northern edge has been active for approximately 5,000 years and, in recent times, has consistently generated earthquakes aligned along an approximately west–east trend, extending from Cigliano to the Piana di Agnano. Although the latest event is the largest ever recorded, it is consistent with the expectations of the models developed to describe the ongoing evolution of the caldera.

A recent study presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2026 (Selva et al., 2026) showed that the seismicity of recent years is distributed along a ring-shaped structure between 2 and 4 km depth, which channels magmatic fluids ascending from deeper levels. The study also demonstrated that the northern edge acts as a preferential pathway, transferring these fluids toward the central sector of the caldera (Pozzuoli–Solfatara–Pisciarelli), where they eventually rise to the surface. The earthquake occurred precisely along this northern boundary, providing further evidence that this fluid-transfer system is currently active.

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences (DiSTAR) at the University of Naples Federico II has been studying the Campi Flegrei unrest and the geological and volcanological evolution of the caldera for many years, contributing to research on one of the world's most extensively studied and closely monitored volcanic systems due to its complexity and the high population exposure.

This expertise is also reflected in the Department's educational activities. The International Master in Volcanology, taught entirely in English and developed in collaboration with the INGV–Osservatorio Vesuviano, provides Italian and international students with multidisciplinary training in geology, geophysics, volcanology, petrology, and geochemistry, equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to understand the processes that govern active volcanic systems and contribute to their assessment and management.

https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU26/EGU26-11349.html?pdf

https://www.distar.unina.it/it/

https://www.volcanology.unina.it

🌋 Meet our Professors – Prof. Warner Marzocchi

Our Meet our Professors series continues with Prof. Warner Marzocchi.

In this interview, Prof. Marzocchi shares how his passion for volcanology was shaped by inspiring mentors, what students can expect from his course on volcanic hazards and risk assessment, and why integrating scientific knowledge with probabilistic approaches is essential for understanding and mitigating volcanic risk.

Discover more about his research, his teaching, and his advice for the next generation of volcanologists.

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself? Tell us about your current position and your main research interests.

I am professor of Geophysics and of Natural Hazard Forecasting at the University of Naples Federico II and at the Scuola Superiore Meridionale. I have coordinated, at different levels, many national, European, and international projects focused on earthquake and eruption forecasting and (multi)hazard assessment. I am member of the Academia Europaea, and author of more than 200 papers on journals listed in the Web of Science (H-index 53 in WoS and 54 in SCOPUS). I have been listed since 2019 in the world’s top 2% scientists in all fields (https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/7. I have served as Chair and member of numerous international scientific organizations, including the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO), as well as on advisory committees for international organizations.

2. Which course(s) do you teach in the Master in Volcanology, and what can students expect to learn from them?

I teach a course on volcanic hazards and risk assessment. The main objective of the course is to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to integrate the relevant volcanological observations, conceptual and physical models, and empirical data in order to produce the most reliable assessments of volcanic hazards and risks.

3. How did you become interested in volcanology? Was there a particular experience, person, or moment that inspired your career?

I met Chris Newhall many years ago, and he profoundly influenced my future research in volcanology. He is a kind and generous person with an extraordinary breadth of knowledge spanning many aspects of volcanology. His mentorship had a major impact on my career, teaching me the importance of probabilistic approaches to volcanic hazard assessment and fundamentally shaping the way I think about volcanic risk.

4. What is the most exciting or rewarding aspect of your research?

Our scientific knowledge has limited value unless it can be used to mitigate the risks posed by volcanoes. Achieving this requires the ability to produce unbiased assessments of volcanic hazards and the associated risks by integrating the best available scientific knowledge while explicitly accounting for the uncertainties inherent in volcanic processes.

5. What advice would you give to students who are considering a career in volcanology or geosciences?

Think big. Always. But remain humble. Every research project should start with an important scientific question, followed by the search for the most appropriate quantitative approaches to answer it. Never let methods dictate the science. Remember the old saying: if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. The best scientists are driven by questions, not by tools.

6. If you could take your students to visit just one volcano anywhere in the world, which one would you choose and why?

Many volcanoes around the world are of great scientific interest and pose a wide range of hazards to society. In my view, Campi Flegrei is one of the most compelling natural laboratories for students, illustrating how a single volcanic system can threaten society in very different ways: through rare, globally significant super-eruptions and through relatively small eruptions occurring within a densely populated urban area. Other outstanding examples include the Taupō Volcanic Zone in New Zealand and the Long Valley Caldera in the United States. These systems present major scientific challenges because of the scarcity of well-documented pre-eruptive observations. At the same time, they are among the best-characterized volcanic systems in the world thanks to decades of geological, geophysical, and geochemical research conducted by an international scientific community.

🌋 Meet our Professors – Prof. Stefano Vitale
Our Meet our Professors series continues with Prof. Stefano Vitale
In this interview, Prof. Vitale shares how his passion for volcanology developed, what students can expect from his course, and why understanding volcanic deformation is essential for studying active volcanic systems and assessing volcanic hazards.
Discover more about his research, his teaching, and his advice for future volcanologists.
1. Could you briefly introduce yourself? Tell us about your current position and your main research interests.
I am a full professor in Structural Geology and Tectonics. My interests include volcano tectonics and regional geology.
2. Which course(s) do you teach in the Master in Volcanology, and what can students expect to learn from them?
In the Master in Volcanology, I teach a course on Volcano Tectonics. The course focuses on the study of deformation structures associated with magma emplacement and migration. A substantial part of the course is also dedicated to deformation modeling using MATLAB. In addition, field trips are an essential component of the course, providing students with hands-on experience in recognizing, measuring, and interpreting volcanic deformation structures in the field.
3. How did you become interested in volcanology? Was there a particular experience, person, or moment that inspired your career?
My interest in volcanology grew out of my research on faults in volcanic environments. This marked an important turning point in my career, which had previously focused on the tectonics of orogenic belts.
4. What is the most exciting or rewarding aspect of your research?
The most exciting and challenging aspect is certainly understanding the structure of the Campi Flegrei caldera and the formation of the collapse faults.
5. What advice would you give to students who are considering a career in volcanology or geosciences?
The study of geological, and particularly volcanic, deformation processes is still an aspect of geoscience that is yet to be fully explored and is extremely relevant today. Understanding the structure and dynamics of volcanoes is certainly helpful in defining volcanic and seismic risk in densely populated areas like the Campi Flegrei.
6. If you could take your students to visit just one volcano anywhere in the world, which one would you choose and why?
One of the most important challenges in volcano tectonics is understanding how calderas form and how they evolve through resurgence. For this reason, I would not take my students very far; I would simply take a boat to the island of Ischia. Ischia is a remarkable natural laboratory where these processes can be observed and studied firsthand, while also offering an extraordinary geological and scenic setting.

Suggested reading:
Vitale et al., 2025 - Ring fault-related deformation mechanisms in active calderas: new insights from a deep section of the Mt. Epomeo Green Tuff resurgent block (Ischia Island)

Il Direttore del Dipartimento Vulcani INGV Stefano Branca fa il punto sullo stato eruttivo dell'Etna.
(30 luglio 2026)
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BYQyKzqsY/

HUTTON 300

Il programma della giornata di studi dedicata al 300° anniversario della nascita di James Hutton sarà pubblicato a breve.
📅 30 ottobre 2026 – Napoli
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