Book excerpt: Don Swanson, who received the GSA Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology, and Volcanology Division's Distinguished Geologic Career award in 2016, has adopted a detailed, field-oriented approach to studying problems of great volcanologic importance across a range of compositions and spatio-temporal scales. Swanson's work has resulted in a series of fundamental contributions that have advanced understanding of the Columbia River flood basalts, Cascade volcanic arc, and Hawai'i, and his insights have been applied not only around the world, but across the solar system. This volume emphasizes the role of field volcanology as a window into better understanding volcanic processes past and present, and highlights, in particular, those places and processes where Swanson's insights have been particularly impactful.