So, it has been awhile, right?

Over the past few years, there have been a lot of changes to my volcano communication world. Scientists moved from Twitter to Bluesky. People decided they wanted podcasts, then short videos, for their content. More people jumped into the volcano science communication game. Magazines got bought and sold, deciding to change policies or focus. Into the wilderness I was thrown.

As some of you know, I tried my hand at a new podcast (Five Minute Volcano) and newsletter on Beehiiv. Neither really clicked with me. The podcast was a lot of work with a small audience while the newsletter was a lot of work on a regular schedule. Although I can care out time to do these things during different times of the year, it doesn’t always work that way. So, I felt like I was letting people down by not producing content.

After a couple months to reflect on why I liked to write about volcanoes and how I liked to write about them best, I kept on going back to the “blog”. Sure, blogs might seem as ancient and saying “boy, I really miss making silent films”, but for me, communicating by the written word — and when the moment captures me — was the most appealing.

So, here we are! I will be relaunching Eruptions as a proper volcano blog like I did back in 2008. That’s almost 20 years ago now! The blog will have breaking news about volcanic activity, bits of pop culture that involve volcanism, deep dives into research and whatever else crosses my mind. I will likely republish some classics from the Eruptions and Rocky Planet days as well.

I can’t guarantee how often I will update — hopefully at least weekly, but maybe more if things are newsworthy. You can keep track of new posts on Bluesky (where I have a new handle: @eruptions.site). You can also sign up to get new posts delivered directly to your inbox (and you can find the archived editions of my short-lived Beehiiv newsletter here).

Right now, the archives are a little funky. Prior to this post, the last one on the WordPress version of Eruptions was made in … 2009. So, there are 15 years worth of posts out there. Some can be found on BigThink, some can be found on Wired and even more can be found on Discover. Maybe I will be able to collect them here, maybe not.

I don’t expect that I can recapture all the excitement of those heady days of early science blogging … and that’s OK. The reason to write is because one wants to write! I hope that people will want to read what I write. That’s all I can ask for.