Rebecca explores why and how scientists study volcanoes, and the audience will take part in a simulated volcanic crisis.

Dr Rebecca Williams is a Professor of Volcanology at the University of Hull, taking an interdisciplinary approach to understanding volcanoes and how communities are affected by eruptions. Her research focuses on volcano-stratigraphy and hazardous volcanic flows, including pyroclastic density currents and lahars, as well as the social and historical aspects of volcanology and science communication.

Rebecca is the Principal Investigator of the Catastrophic Flows Research Cluster and the Decolonising UK Earth Science project, and is the founder of the VOICES (Volcanoes In Communication, Engagement & Society) Group. She is also passionate about improving equality, diversity and inclusivity in Earth Science and developing more inclusive approaches to geoscience education.

Discover more about the life and legacy of pioneering volcanologist Tempest Anderson (1846-1913). An ophthalmic surgeon, Anderson was a noteworthy York philanthropist who was an expert in photography with a particular passion for volcanoes. Tempest Anderson was one half of the Royal Society Expedition sent to St Vincent and Martinique to investigate the volcanic tragedies that unfolded on these Caribbean islands in 1902. His photographs from this expedition are some of the earliest pictures of erupting volcanoes. Capturing details of volcanic landscapes around the globe, Anderson’s great legacy is a photographic collection still informing volcano science today. In this talk, Rebecca Williams will unearth the fascinating fundamentals of volcanoes, illustrated with Anderson’s photographic collection. Join us on an awe-inspiring journey from Yorkshire to the world’s volcanoes, learning the latest research into volcanoes and how people live alongside these beautiful, but sometimes deadly landforms.

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