People

Academic Staff

Professor Jenni Barclay
I am a volcanologist and the ambition at the centre of my research is the reduction of risk and prevention of disaster in volcanic settings. I aim to reduce the impact of volcanic eruptions on sustainable development trajectories. Volcanic risk is dynamic, multi-faceted and embedded within the social, political and cultural landscapes into which volcanoes erupt. So, my research focusses on both the fundamental physical understanding of volcanic processes, often using petrological methods, and on the integrative interdisciplinary research necessary to understand and tackle the core drivers of disaster losses.

Dr Richard Brooker
I manage the experimental petrology facilities, with projects ranging from planetary mantle petrology, crustal processes such as magma mushes through to volcanology, with a particular interest in the role of volatiles and more recently rheology. Other current research interests include ash damage in jet engines, survival of DNA and organic material during diagenesis and the environmental impact of mining 'sulphide smoker' deposits from mid-ocean ridges. I have a keen interest pushing experimental boundaries by designing new experimental equipment in close collaboration with our workshop.

Professor Claire Corkhill
I am a mineralogist interested in ancient uranium- and thorium-containing minerals, as well as glasses, which I use as templates to design new materials for radioactive waste immobilisation and disposal. I use a range of bulk and micro-focused X-ray techniques to probe the chemistry, local structure and crystallography of minerals, and couple these with surface-sensitive analytical techniques and aqueous geochemistry to understand their degradation in water.

Dr Freya George
I am a metamorphic geologist with an interest in the processes that drive mineral recrystallisation in the Earth’s crust – including mass transfer, nucleation, and interface processes – and the timescales over which these occur. My current research focuses on the extent of and controls on chemical equilibrium and disequilibrium at metamorphic conditions. Though my approach is multi-disciplinary, I emphasise unravelling tectonic histories using preserved mineral textures, geochemical signatures, and absolute geochronology.

Professor Simon Kohn
My research is aimed at understanding the materials that control large-scale processes in the Earth's mantle and crust and includes volatile dissolution mechanisms in silicate melts and OH storage in nominally anhydrous minerals in the mantle. My current focus is on diamonds and their inclusions and the unique information they provide on global geochemical cycling and the history of the lithosphere.

Dr Simon Lock

Dr Oliver Lord – Research Group Leader
I focus on understanding the behaviour of materials at extreme pressures and temperatures through experiments employing laser- and resistively-heated diamond-anvil cells and large-volume press techniques. I combine these with advanced analytical methods including X-ray diffraction, absorption and imaging at synchrotron facilities, as well as FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. My work addresses problems spanning the structure and dynamics of the Earth and other planets, condensed-matter physics, biomineralisation, engineering materials, and hydrogen generation in the deep Earth. I also manage projects that involve density-functional-theory based ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of metals and silicates, using high-performance computing to link atomic-scale behaviour with macroscopic properties.

Dr Robert Myhill
I study the evolution and structure of the Earth and Mars through a combination of high-pressure experimental petrology, mineral physics, and geodynamics. I am particularly interested in where and how our planet melts, and in how melting over the last 4.5 billion years has led to the diverse geology of our planet. I am a principal developer of the BurnMan thermodynamics software (https://burnman.org) and ASPECT geodynamics software (https://aspect.geodynamics.org/).

Professor Ben Williamson
I am an applied mineralogist with research interests in the nature and genesis of granites and pegmatites, the development of exploration tools for associated mineralisation, and the environmental impacts of mining-related activities. Current projects focus on the genesis of Li pegmatites in the Leinster Belt of southeast Ireland and the development of a new plagioclase-based tool to explore for porphyry Cu deposits. I teach mineral deposits geology, environmental impact assessment, environmental sustainability and resources, and field skills.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr Amelia Bain
My research relates to magma petrology and rheology, volcanic processes and hazards (working in Colombia, Guatemala and now the Eastern Caribbean as part of the NERC-funded 'Ex-X' project). I am particularly interested in protracted volcanic eruptions, how we can anticipate hazardous changes, and how we can manage risk to reduce negative societal impacts. For this reason, I have strayed into volcano seismology and data-driven and machine-learning approaches to forecast eruptions. I have also worked on co-production of risk and resources management approaches and tools between multiple stakeholders (communities, authorities, local organisations) in Mexico and Ecuador.

Dr Lena Chen
I am a geochemist interested in how minerals control the fate of trace metals and nuclear waste in the environment. My current research investigates the durability of uranium and thorium-containing ceramic minerals, which are potential hosts for immobilising radioactive waste. I conduct dissolution experiments and use aqueous geochemistry analyses and solid-state characterisation to determine the mechanisms and kinetics governing the dissolution of these minerals in groundwater solutions. This work supports the development of a robust safety-case for the long-term disposal of radioactive waste.

Dr Benedict Heinen
I study the properties of minerals, melts and glasses at the extreme conditions found deep inside the Earth. I am particularly interested in how we can recreate these conditions in the lab, and much of my research has focused on experimental and analytical method development. I also develop and contribute to open-source software for the wider research community. This includes LiquidDiffract, a user-friendly tool for X-ray total scattering analysis (https://pypi.org/project/LiquidDiffract).

Dr Abigail Metcalfe
Senior research associate in volcanic petrology and stratigraphy, working on the Leverhulme funded project 'Volcanic Histories

PhD Students

Hero Bain
Project title: Tectonic controls on porphyry copper formation in the southwestern USA
Supervisors: Tim Elliott & Frances Cooper (UCL)

Emanuel Fanesi
Project title: Understanding hydrogen formation in deep Earth conditions
Supervisor: Oliver Lord

Elena-Marie Rogmann
Project title: Waterworld: An experimental study of the deep Earth water cycle
Supervisors: Oliver Lord & Simon Kohn

Frankie Haywood
Project title: Exploring the controls behind explosive-effusive eruptions at pantellerite volcanoes
Supervisor: Richard Brooker

Matt Wincott
Project title: Diamonds and their inclusions as thermometers and clocks
Supervisors: Simon Kohn & Ian Parkinson

Patrick Painter
Project title: Sorption of radionuclides by vitrified high-level waste alteration minerals
Supervisor: Claire Corkhill

Samuel Varga
Project title: Underpinning UK vitrified waste disposal in a geological facility
Supervisor: Claire Corkhill

Technical Staff

Sophie Litherland
I am the technician attached to the Radio mineralogy labs, working closely with lab users to ensure the safe working with radioactive isotopes. The work being carried out in the labs is to find long term disposal solutions for radioactive waste generated from Nuclear energy, primarily assisting in the development of a geological disposal facility.

Hayley Goodes
I am the Geological Services Technician and a key part of my role is to support the Petrology Group. I run the polishing lab (based in Inner Court Labs), rock crushing lab and petrology microscopy lab, and assist the experimental petrology facilities lab manager in all other labs used by the group.