Gui Aksit

Gui Guenther Aksit (“Ghee GUN-thur AHK-shit”) was born in the shadow of the Colorado Rockies, but was raised on the glacial till of the Midwest. She received a B.A. in Anthropology from Ohio University, but decided to change academic paths and later received a B.S. in Earth and Space Sciences from the University of Washington. Gui is currently finishing her Ph.D. in Earth Sciences with a specialization in Volcanology from the University of Oregon.

Gui has multidisciplinary research experience, from ethnographic fieldwork in Jordan and Türkiye, to geologic research in the Cascades and Colorado. At UW, Gui conducted detrital zircon and sandstone petrographic analysis of sedimentary rocks from the Nallihan Basin in Türkiye to determine the timing of collision and accretion events forming Anatolia. She worked at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory for a summer assisting in physical volcanology fieldwork at Glacier Peak WA, and created tephra maps for past eruptions at Mt. Rainier. For her Ph.D., Gui did fieldwork at the Oligocene-aged Summer Coon volcano in Colorado to look at controls for and mechanisms of emplacement of silicic magmatic dikes at stratovolcanoes. Using a field-based, fracture-mechanics informed approach, her work aims to understand where and why magma erupts to improve our ability to gauge hazards at modern volcanic arcs. This work has led to an interest in the plutonic-volcanic question, and understanding rhyolite emplacement in the shallow sub-surface. In her work, Gui aims to answer volcanology questions through a structural geology lens. 

Gui is dedicated to field-based teaching, and has taught field camps and trips at the high school and college level in Montana, Oregon, Washington, and California. When she is not in the lab, on the SEM, in front of the computer, or teaching, Gui enjoys making art (painting, ceramics, fiber arts…) consuming science fiction in all forms, enjoying the great outdoors, or lounging inside with her bunnies.