In the Andes, volcanism is likely a main contributor to disturbances made on the surrounding ecosystems. Volcanism can be a powerful force, creating a range of changes from blasting impacts, to ash fallout nutrient enrichment, to completely overriding the system. In the Colombian Andes, with San Diego Cerro Machin Volcanic Tectonic Providence (SCVPT) -evolving over 5 million years, volcanism is clearly a large contributor to disturbances on the ecosystem. This proposed project will seek to understand the potential role and impact of volcanism as a disturbance has on the tropical Andean ecosystems. This project also seeks to confirm laboratory protocols of detecting volcanism by analyzing lake sedimentary records using Micro-XRF and Transmission Electronic Microscopes and/or Light Microscopes machines to discover tephra. For the research community, this project would help validate use of the Micro-XRF elementary analysis data to confirm tephra deposit on Andean lake sedimentary records. For environmentalists and ecologists it would help in learning how volcanism affects ecological communities over time on this area.