Jackie Drazan has traveled from northern Minnesota to southern Iceland to study peperites, rocks created when molten magma from erupting volcanoes comes in contact with water or wet sediment. “Iceland is an interesting example where molten lava erupting into glaciers interacts with melting water to form peperite,” says the University of Minnesota Duluth doctoral candidate and fellowship recipient. Minnesota peperite, on the other hand, formed thousands of years ago when volcanoes erupted onto the ocean floor. “This tells us that peperites can form in hot environments dominated by volcanoes or environments like Iceland’s, which is covered with glaciers.”