I'm originally from Exeter, United Kingdom. As a child I used to love flicking through books to see pictures of volcanoes erupting all around the world. Then I found out this was a career I could actually follow. I applied and was accepted to the University of Birmingham, UK, where I studied for a degree in BSc. Geology and Geography. After that I went into the Masters Degree program at the University of Bristol, where, I studied for an MRes in the Science of Natural Hazards. It was here I got into remote sensing, and for my Master's thesis I studied the sulfur dioxide emissions that were produced from the eruption of Sarychev Peak Volcano in 2009, under the supervision of Matt Watson and Helen Thomas. After this, I knew that I wanted to stay in remote sensing and use those observations to study volcanic eruptions. In February 2012, I was lucky enough to be offered an internship at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, where I was able to work on both field and computer-based study aiding MVO with it’s operations. I processed time series data collected by the observatory to see if there was a correlation between strain and seismic data, and the occurrence of ash venting events at the Soufriere Hills Volcano. During my time there I was offered a PhD position at the University of Pittsburgh. In August that same year, I moved to the United States to start my work under the supervision of Michael Ramsey. Here I developed methods to study opaque volcanic ash plumes from space to try and derive particle size and composition from thermal infrared image data. I have been fortunate enough to travel to volcanoes and laboratories in many places over the world, including Kagoshima (Japan), Antigua (Guatemala), Los Angeles and Phoenix. I successfully defended my dissertation, entitled "An analysis of proximal volcanic ash emissions" on July 19th 2018, and completed my degree on August 10th 2018.
Following this I was appointed as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Pittsburgh, where I was co-advised by Mike Ramsey (Pitt) and Vince Realmuto (JPL). I begun the development of both a chamber with which to take spectral measurements of volcanic ash while it is suspended, and performed a laboratory analysis of volcanic ash produced during the different phases of the Ejyafjallajokull eruption of 2010. This work has been expanded due to the success of several grants on which I am a Co-Investigator with both Mike and Vince. We are in the process of further analyzing ash samples and the image data of large ash plumes to see if we can better quantify their constituents and therefore learn more about how a specific volcano erupts.
My previous position was as Visiting Assistant Professor of Volcanology at the University of Pittsburgh. This was an instruction-focused position that gave the chance to teach multiple different courses from introductory level geology and planetary science, through to upper level and graduate courses in GIS and Remote Sensing. I continued with my work on volcanic research too, and I'm currently a Co-Investigator on a further NASA grant (PI Vince Realmuto) where we are trying to better understand the variable emissivity and transmission of volcanic ash based upon it's constituent components.
As of August 2023, I'm now a full faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, where I am Assistant Teaching Professor of GIS and Remote Sensing. I will be taking a more active role in the Certificate in GIS and Remote Sensing program, where I am to be heavily involved in research mentorship to undergraduate students, as well as teaching the core classes of the certificate program. To learn more about my teaching responsibilities, click here.