Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
I am an Assistant Professor in Geochemistry in Trinity College Dublin, specialising in understanding magmatic processes in volcanic and ore-forming systems. Before moving to Dublin, I held the Charles Darwin and Galápagos Islands Junior Research Fellowship at Christ's College, Cambridge. I obtained a DPhil in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford in 2016 and graduated with First Class Honours from a Master of Science (MSci) in Geology from the University of Southampton in 2011.
I am Diractor of the Earth Surface Research Laboratory (ESRL) - a national geochemistry facility for researchers based on the island of Ireland, funded by Geological Survey Ireland. The ESRL is a main data supplier for the Tellus geochemical survey and contributes to numerous national and international research projects.
My role involves a combination of research, teaching, and university administration. My research focuses on the application of novel analytical and modelling techniques to understand magmatic processes, either in the context of mineralised (e.g. orthomagmatic layered intrusions, porphyrys etc) or volcanic systems. Aligned to this, I teach modules in geochemistry, igneous petrology and research methods. I also sit on various committees, both within the School of Natural Sciences and at a university-level.
In this research-focused role, I used Galapagos volcanoes as a "natural laboratory" to fundamentally constrain the acrchitecture and processes operating within sub-volcanic magma systems. I integrated novel petrological techniques and models with independent geophysical datasets.
As a Parliamentary Academic Fellow, I investigated UK Govnerment emergency planning for natural hazards, determining how hazards were identified and classified within the National Risk Assessment, the role of different stakeholders in this processes, and comparing the UK approach with international equivalents. My work was published in a UK parliamentary briefing paper (POSTbrief)
In 2011-2012 employed by SOES, University of Southampton, to work within the university clean laboratories, under Dr R. Taylor. In this position I was responsible for the chemical preparation of samples from a number of projects for mass spectrometric isotope analysis. This involves digesting samples and chemical separation by ion exchange chromatography.
In 2010 I worked at SOES, University of Southampton, for Prof D. Teagle and Dr R. James, studying sulfide chimneys from the East Scotia Ridge (supporting a NERC project). My primary task was to investigate the petrology and mineralogy of samples collected on a cruise to the Southern Ocean. This involved hand specimen description as well as an extensive microscopy investigation, using both transmitted and reflected light techniques. Each sample was catalogued with photographs and photomicrographs. XRD and micro-XRF were used to aid in mineralogical investigation as well as gamma spectroscopy to examine radionuclides within the samples. On completion of the project I wrote a comprehensive report (A Preliminary Petrological Investigation of the JC42 (East Scotia Ridge) Rock Samples) for use in future work. My findings will be published as part of a paper led by Dr James.