{{short description|Marine geologist}}
{{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Maya Tolstoy | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = | alma_mater = | education = {{plainlist| *University of Edinburgh (BS) *Scripps Institution of Oceanography (PhD) }} | occupation = Marine geophysicist | organisation = | years_active = | employer = | agent = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | title = | party = | movement = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = Women of Discovery Award | website = | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}
'''Maya Tolstoy''' ({{langx|ru|Толста́я|Tolstaya}}) is a marine geophysicist known for her work on earthquakes in the deep sea. From Fall 2018 through December 2019 she was the Interim Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University. Between 2022 and June 2025, she was the Maggie Walker Dean in the College of the Environment at the University of Washington.<ref>https://environment.uw.edu/news/2025/06/maya-tolstoy-reflects-on-her-leadership-at-uw-environment/</ref>
== Biography == Maya Tolstoy was born in New York to Ivan Tolstoy and Margie Lugthart and grew up in Scotland.<ref name=kekr>Kevin Krajick, [https://lamont.columbia.edu/news/ivan-tolstoy-who-elucidated-travels-sound-through-oceans-and-air-and-helped-map-seabeds-dies Ivan Tolstoy, Who Elucidated Travels of Sound Through Oceans and Air, and Helped Map Seabeds, Dies at 99], April 04, 2023</ref> She was interested in both science and theater while growing up,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Pratt|first=Sara E.|date=May 8, 2015|title=Down to Earth With: Marine Geophysicist Maya Tolstoy|url=https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/down-earth-marine-geophysicist-maya-tolstoy/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=www.earthmagazine.org}}</ref> but a fascination with earthquakes led her to a career in geoscience.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Delaney|first1=Peggy|last2=Abrantes|first2=Fatima|last3=Alexander|first3=Vera|last4=Alldredge|first4=Alice L.|last5=Almogi-Labin|first5=Ahuva|last6=Alonso|first6=Belén|last7=Anand|first7=Pallavi|last8=Ates|first8=Sibel Bargu|last9=Bauch|first9=Dorothea|last10=Bell|first10=Robin E.|last11=Benitez-Nelson|first11=Claudia|title=Autobiographical Sketches of Women in Oceanography |date=2005|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43925658|journal=Oceanography|volume=18|issue=1|pages=65–246|jstor=43925658 |issn=1042-8275}}</ref> Tolstoy received her B.S. in geophysics from the University of Edinburgh in 1988 and earned a Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1994.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Homesite of Maya Tolstoy {{!}} Curriculum Vitae|url=https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~tolstoy/cv/index.html|access-date=2022-02-05|website=www.ldeo.columbia.edu}}</ref> Following her Ph.D., she was first a postdoctoral research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and then at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory. In 1996 she joined the faculty at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and was promoted to professor in 2016.<ref name=":1" /> In January 2022 she started her position as the Maggie Walker Dean of the College of the Environment at the University of Washington.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 2, 2021|title=Maya Tolstoy named dean of the UW College of the Environment|url=https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/06/02/maya-tolstoy-named-dean-of-the-uw-college-of-the-environment/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=UW News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=24 June 2021|title=A Trio of Women Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Endowed Positions|work=Women In Academia Report|url=https://www.wiareport.com/2021/06/a-trio-of-women-scholars-who-have-been-appointed-to-endowed-positions/}}</ref>
== Research == Tolstoy is known for her research using sound in the ocean to study deep-sea earthquakes. Her early research investigated a 2006 undersea eruption on the East Pacific Rise.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=M.|last2=Cowen|first2=J. P.|last3=Baker|first3=E. T.|last4=Fornari|first4=D. J.|last5=Rubin|first5=K. H.|last6=Shank|first6=T. M.|last7=Waldhauser|first7=F.|last8=Bohnenstiehl|first8=D. R.|last9=Forsyth|first9=D. W.|last10=Holmes|first10=R. C.|last11=Love|first11=B.|date=22 December 2006|title=A Sea-Floor Spreading Event Captured by Seismometers|url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1133950|journal=Science|language=EN|doi=10.1126/science.1133950|last14=Soule|last15=Glazer|first15=B.|first13=R. T.|last13=Weekly|first12=M. R.|last12=Perfit|first14=S. A.|volume=314 |issue=5807 |pages=1920–1922 |pmid=17124289 |bibcode=2006Sci...314.1920T |s2cid=10275659 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> While many of her instruments were trapped in lava, enough could be recovered to track the sequence of events that led to the eruption.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chadwick|first=William W.|date=2006|title=A Submarine Volcano Is Caught in the Act|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20035087|journal=Science|volume=314|issue=5807|pages=1887–1888|doi=10.1126/science.1137082 |jstor=20035087 |pmid=17185591 |s2cid=35015215 |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Her subsequent research has examined earthquakes at Axial Seamount,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=Maya|last2=Wilcock|first2=William S.D.|last3=Tan|first3=Yen Joe|last4=Waldhauser|first4=Felix|date=2018|title=A Tale of Two Eruptions: HOW DATA FROM AXIAL SEAMOUNT LED TO A DISCOVERY ON THE EAST PACIFIC RISE|journal=Oceanography|volume=31|issue=1|pages=124–126|doi=10.5670/oceanog.2018.118 |jstor=26307796 |issn=1042-8275|doi-access=free}}</ref> the connections between tides and deep-sea earthquakes,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=Maya|last2=Vernon|first2=Frank L.|last3=Orcutt|first3=John A.|last4=Wyatt|first4=Frank K.|date=1 June 2002|title=Breathing of the seafloor: Tidal correlations of seismicity at Axial volcano|url=https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030%3C0503:BOTSTC%3E2.0.CO;2|journal=Geology|volume=30|issue=6|pages=503–506|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0503:BOTSTC>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=2002Geo....30..503T |issn=0091-7613|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and the along-axis flow of fluids at the East Pacific Rise.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=M.|last2=Waldhauser|first2=F.|last3=Bohnenstiehl|first3=D. R.|last4=Weekly|first4=R. T.|last5=Kim|first5=W.-Y.|date=January 2008|title=Seismic identification of along-axis hydrothermal flow on the East Pacific Rise|journal=Nature|volume=451|issue=7175|pages=181–184|doi=10.1038/nature06424|pmid=18185585 |bibcode=2008Natur.451..181T |s2cid=4320243 }}</ref> Tolstoy's research has linked changes in sea level with patterns of earthquake activity in the deep sea,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tolstoy|first=Maya|date=2015|title=Mid-ocean ridge eruptions as a climate valve|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|language=en|volume=42|issue=5|pages=1346–1351|doi=10.1002/2014GL063015|bibcode=2015GeoRL..42.1346T |s2cid=55300326 |issn=1944-8007|doi-access=free}}</ref> research which has implications for the release of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=McSpadden|first=Kevin|date=February 6, 2015|title=Undersea Volcanoes May Impact Climate Change|url=https://time.com/3698572/science-maya-tolstoy-geophysical-research-letters-volcanoes-climate-change/|access-date=2022-02-05|magazine=Time|language=en}}</ref>
In addition to her research, Tolstoy led an initiative defining issues encountered by women in science that culminated in a 2018 report that presented issues at Columbia University,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=June|first=Audrey Williams|date=October 26, 2018|title=What Factors Hold Back the Careers of Women and Faculty of Color? Columbia U. Went Looking for Answers|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-factors-hold-back-the-careers-of-women-and-faculty-of-color-columbia-u-went-looking-for-answers/?cid=gen_sign_in|journal=Chronicle of Higher Education|volume=65|issue=8}}</ref> and she has worked to overcome issues in unequal treatment of women and minorities in hiring for academic positions.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Xia|first=Karen|date=February 1, 2019|title=Columbia has $185 million in dedicated funds. Why is hiring diverse faculty still so difficult?|work=UWIRE Text}}</ref> Tolstoy was also in the 2005 James Cameron film about the deep ocean ''Aliens of the Deep,''<ref>{{Cite news|last=Eagan|first=Daniel|date=February 2005|title=Aliens of the Deep|volume=108|work=Film Journal International|issue=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=REED|first=CHRISTINA|date=2005|title=Into the Abyss|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26060865|journal=Scientific American|volume=292|issue=2|pages=24–25|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0205-24 |jstor=26060865 |pmid=15715384 |bibcode=2005SciAm.292b..24R |issn=0036-8733|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and was a finalist in the 2009 astronaut interview process at NASA.<ref name=":0" />
== Selected publications ==
* {{cite journal|last1=Crone|first1=Timothy J.|last2=Tolstoy|first2=Maya|date=29 October 2010|title=Magnitude of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak|url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1195840|journal=Science|volume=330 |issue=6004 |page=634 |language=EN|doi=10.1126/science.1195840|pmid=20929734 |bibcode=2010Sci...330..634C |s2cid=5722715 |url-access=subscription}} * {{cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=Maya|last2=Harding|first2=Alistair J.|last3=Orcutt|first3=John A.|date=29 October 1993|title=Crustal Thickness on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Bull's-Eye Gravity Anomalies and Focused Accretion|url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.262.5134.726|journal=Science|volume=262 |issue=5134 |pages=726–729 |language=EN|doi=10.1126/science.262.5134.726|pmid=17812339 |bibcode=1993Sci...262..726T |s2cid=36743776 |url-access=subscription}} * {{cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=M.|last2=Cowen|first2=J. P.|last3=Baker|first3=E. T.|last4=Fornari|first4=D. J.|last5=Rubin|first5=K. H.|last6=Shank|first6=T. M.|last7=Waldhauser|first7=F.|last8=Bohnenstiehl|first8=D. R.|last9=Forsyth|first9=D. W.|last10=Holmes|first10=R. C.|last11=Love|first11=B.|date=22 December 2006|title=A Sea-Floor Spreading Event Captured by Seismometers|url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1133950|journal=Science|language=EN|doi=10.1126/science.1133950|last14=Soule|last15=Glazer|first15=B.|first13=R. T.|last13=Weekly|first12=M. R.|last12=Perfit|first14=S. A.|volume=314 |issue=5807 |pages=1920–1922 |pmid=17124289 |bibcode=2006Sci...314.1920T |s2cid=10275659 |url-access=subscription}} * {{cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=Maya|last2=Vernon|first2=Frank L.|last3=Orcutt|first3=John A.|last4=Wyatt|first4=Frank K.|date=1 June 2002|title=Breathing of the seafloor: Tidal correlations of seismicity at Axial volcano|url=https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030%3C0503:BOTSTC%3E2.0.CO;2|journal=Geology|volume=30|issue=6|pages=503–506|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0503:BOTSTC>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=2002Geo....30..503T |issn=0091-7613|url-access=subscription}} * {{cite journal|last1=Tolstoy|first1=M.|date=5 February 2015|title= Mid-ocean ridge eruptions as a climate valve|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=1346–1351 |language=EN|doi=10.1002/2014GL063015|bibcode=2015GeoRL..42.1346T |s2cid=55300326 |doi-access=free}}
== Awards and honors == In 2009, Tolstoy received a Women of Discovery Award for her work on deep-sea exploration.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 28, 2009|title=Women Explorers {{!}} The Leonard Lopate Show|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/58276-women-explorers/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=WNYC|language=en}}</ref> She was a 2012 invited speaker at the Nobel Conference,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Maya Tolstoy, Ph.D. - Nobel Conference 48 {{!}} Nobel Conference|url=https://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2012/tolstoy.php|access-date=2022-02-05|website=gustavus.edu|language=en}}</ref> and delivered the 2016 Francis Birch Lecture at the American Geophysical Union meeting.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Francis Birch Lecture {{!}} AGU|url=https://www.agu.org/Honor-and-Recognize/Honors/Section-Awards/Birch-Lecture|access-date=2022-02-05|website=www.agu.org}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{google scholar id|xlE2eLQAAAAJ&hl}} * {{YouTube|id=dhMoQrLEJe0|title=Seafloor earthquakes {{!}} Maya Tolstoy}}, May 13, 2013 TEDxCERN
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Category:University of California, San Diego alumni Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people Category:University of Washington faculty Category:Marine geologists Category:Women geophysicists Category:Women climatologists Category:Acousticians Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people