Some possible research projects for an independent study or thesis:

• Tephrochronology of the Summer Lake, Oregon fossil fish site - Identification and correlation of volcanic ash to provide a chronology for Pliocene fish fossils and recent faulting
   
• Mt. St. Helens, Washington - Improved chronology, identification, and ash distribution for various explosive eruptions of Pleistocene to Holocene age
   
• Tephrochronology of the Mt. Logan, Yukon Territory ice core - Location and identification of cryptotephra (trace volcanic ash) in glacial ice
   
• Newberry Volcano, Oregon - Volcanology and petrology of the most recent caldera-forming eruptive sequence

Other projects are possible as well.