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Cinder cones are a common feature at many volcanic eruptions. Their shapes and volumes can reveal information about eruption conditions, and their geomorphological evolution shapes them and their surrounding environment. It is thus important to quantify the rate and patterns of erosion of young cinder cones. In this study, we examine the Ahmanilix cone, which formed during the 2008 eruption of Okmok volcano in the Aleutian islands region of Alaska. Ahmanilix, located on the eastern side of Okmok’s large caldera, is >250 meters tall and characterized by dramatic gullies formed by the harsh wind, snow and rain conditions typical of the Aleutians. We usd photogrammetry to create 3D models of Ahmanilix using aerial photographic surveys taken from a helicopter in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. We utilize Agisoft Metashape to build point clouds, Cloud Compare to align the point clouds and build raster Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and QGIS and Python to visualize and analyze these products. By subtracting DEM rasters we quantify year-to-year erosion. We compare our results with erosion rates estimated from satellite observations (Dai et al., 2020), identify regions dominated by erosion or deposition and correlate them with slopes and cinder lithology. Our observations can be extended to other cinder cones and help predict their geomorphological evolution. 

Humanitarian mine action (HMA) is a critically under-researched field when compared to other hazards fields of similar societal impact. A potential solution to this problem is early exposure to and engagement in the HMA field in undergraduate education. Early undergraduate education emphasizing technical and social aspects of HMA can help protect lives by building a robust pipeline of passionate researchers who will find new solutions to the global explosive ordnance (EO) crisis. Early engagement of the next generation of HMA researchers and policy makers can occur through various classroom experiences, undergraduate research projects, and public outreach events. These include but are not limited to course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs); presenting research results at local, national, and international conferences; dissemination in edited and peer-reviewed publications; local community events; and through social media outreach. Early engagement, active guidance, and mentorship of such students by mid-career and experienced HMA scholars and practitioners could dramatically reduce the learning curve associated with entry into the HMA sector and allow for more fruitful long-term collaboration between academic institutions, private industry, and leading nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating across different facets of HMA.