March 2016.
Professor David M. Pyle
Address: Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN.
Tel: +44(0)1865 272048 E-mail: Twitter @davidmpyle
Blogs – volcanicdegassing (EGU Blog); LondonVolcano
Current Position:
Professor of Earth Sciences,Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford (since 2008)
Academic Director, Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research (since 2014)
Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences, St Anne’s College, Oxford (since 2006)
Previous Positions
2006 – Lecturer in Igneous Processes, Dept of Earth Sciences.
1991 - 2006: Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer then Senior Lecturer, Cambridge University.
1998: Senior Scientist, Montserrat Volcano Observatory (6 week secondment).
1991 - 2006: Official Fellow, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge.
1990 - 1991: Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
October 1989-October 1991: Research Fellow, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge.
Higher Education
1990: PhD, Cambridge University. "Geological and radiochemical studies on young volcanoes ". Advisers: Prof. RSJ Sparks FRS, Dr M Ivanovich.
1986: B.A. (Hons), Geological Sciences, University of Cambridge (First Class).
Awards and Honours
2016 – Hallimond Lecturer, Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
2008 – Awarded title of Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
2008 - Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for Geophysical Research Letters
1994 - President's Award, Geological Society of London
Research Output (1988 – 2016)
161Peer-reviewed papers, 3 Monographs/Edited books
‘h’ index–40; 4300 citations (Researcher ID,Scopus). 50 on Google Scholar
Current publication list https:/
Five significant publications
DM Pyle(1989)The thickness, volume and grainsize of tephra fall deposits, Bulletin of Volcanology, 51, 1-15. 357 citations – the most highly cited paper in the Bulletin of Volcanology.
DM Pyle & TA Mather (2003) The importance of volcanic emissions for the global atmospheric mercury cycle, Atmospheric Environment 37, 5115 – 5124. 108 citations – stimulated new interest in Hg as a tracer of past volcanism.
DM Pyle& JR Elliott (2006), Quantitative morphology, recent evolution and future activity of the Kameni islands volcano, Santorini, Greece, Geosphere 2, 253-268. 42 citations – established the current hypothesis for the next eruption on Santorini
MM Parks et al (2012) Evolution of Santorini volcano dominated by episodic and rapid fluxes of melt from depth. Nature Geoscience 5, 749-754. 45 citations – integrated analysis of the first modern episode of non-eruptive unrest at Santorini volcano, Greece.
H Rawson et al (2016) The magmatic and eruptive response of arc volcanoes to deglaciation: insights from southern Chile. Geology 44, 251-4, doi:10.1130/G37504.1 – evidence for changes in erupted magma flux and composition following deglaciation
Recent or Current Research Funding
NERC Theme Action Grant (2014-19) Mantle volatiles: processes, reservoirs and fluxes. Co-I.
NERC Consortium Grant (2014-19) ‘RiftVolc’ – Volcanism in the Main Ethiopian Rift, Co-I.
NERC Standard Grant (2012-16) Spectrally High-resolution Infrared measurements for the characterisation of Volcanic Ash (SHIVA) (Co-Investigator)
NERC/ESRC Directed Grant (2012-17) Strengthening Resilience in Volcanic Areas (STREVA) (Co-Investigator and Work Package Leader)
NERC Standard Grant (2011-15) Tempo of post-glacial volcanism in Southern Chile (PI, £400k)
REF 2014 Impact Case Studies and funding
Cycling of mercury in the environment and informed mercury policy, University of Oxford
Volcanic gas fluxes, University of Cambridge
NERC Knowledge Transfer Network, (2008-2011), Integrating Knowledge to Inform Mercury Policy (PI, £300k)[Outcomes included development of policy on safe storage and disposal of Hg, adopted as part of the 2013 UNEP Minamata Convention on Mercury]
Relevant professional activities(last 10 years)
2015 – Member, NERC Panelawarding a CDT in Smart and Autonomous Observing Systems
2013 – Leverhulme Royal Society Senior Research Fellowships Panel
2013-16 Editor, GeoResJ
2014 – Associate Editor, Frontiers in Volcanology
2011 – Editorial Board, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
2010-14 Member, then Chair, NERC Ion Microprobe Facility Steering Group
2010 – Invited member, ad hoc World Health Organisation advisory group on volcanic ash
2008-11 – Chair, UK Volcanology and Magmatic Studies Group
2008-11 – Council Member, Mineralogical Society
2007-2013Subject Editor (Volcanology), Journal of the Geological Society of London
2003-6 NERC Peer Review College and Panel member.
University Responsibilities
Curator, Bodleian Libraries exhibition on ‘Volcanoes’ (opens in Spring 2017) [Volcanoes in science, literature and art, showcasing research and collections across Oxford University]
PI and Director, Oxford University Doctoral Training Programme in Environmental Research, 2013-2018. Awarded 120 studentships over 5 years (ca. £10M from NERC).
Academic Lead and Chair of Management Committee, OxfordSparks (Oxford University Public Engagement with Science), 2011- [New portal for coordination of public engagement with science across Oxford; and development of new content]
Curator of the University Libraries, 2012-13
Media (last 5 years)
October 2015 – launch of London Volcano in Oxford
September 2015 – Profiled in ‘Oxfordshire Limited Edition’
April 2015 – interviews following volcanic eruptions in Chile, including RadioCooperativa (Santiago) and France24TV.
December 2013 – launch of Volcanoes Top Trumps (Jazz FM; BBC Radio Oxfordshire; Oxford Times, Oxford Mail).
May 2013 – interviews on Copahue volcano unrest, Chile, forRadio 5 Live, BBC World Service and BBC Scotland.
September 2012 – interviews on Santorini unrest (including Al Jazeera, World Service, NERC Planet Earth magazine).
June 2011 – interviews on the Puyehue/Cordon Caulle eruptions (World Service)
October 2010 – interviews on Mt Merapi eruption, France 24.
April 2010 – interviews on volcanic ash (Radio 5 Live, BBC World, The Guardian, Bloomberg).
Science Communication, Outreach and Public Engagement (major contributions)
Volcanoes Top Trumps – member of design and launch team for a Top Trumps card set (Launched in December 2012), and the development of a new online game (Launched in September 2014) (volcanoestoptrumps.org). 15,000 cards sold to March 2016.
Academic Lead, OxfordSparks portal for public engagement with science ( 155,000 YouTube views since launch in 2012).
Blog and Twitter: 38,000 views of academic blog, volcanicdegassing.wordpress.comsince launch in September 2012; 2500 followers on Twitter.
Television – scientific contributor to ‘Secrets of the Bible’ (multipart series, 2015).
June 2014 – London Volcano at the Natural History Museum, London. Blog posts attracted thousands of views, and interest from emergency management organisations in the Caribbean, among others. In 2015, London Volcano went on tour to mark NERC’s 50th anniversary – featuring at the BGS Open Day, at the Diamond Light Source Open Days, at the Green Man Festival and for a two-week ‘residency’ at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
December 2012 – ‘Underwater Volcano Disaster’, Oxford Sparks YouTube animation [over 10,000 aggregated views]
March 2012 – Volcano day, Oxford Science Festival/National Science Week
March 2011 – Zone winner, I’m a Scientist Get Me Out of Here. (Wellcome Trust).
June/July 2010 – Exhibitor at the Royal Society 350th Anniversary Summer Exhibition (Fast and Furious, the Afar Consortium).
Research Student Training
30 PhD students graduated, 1995 – present.
Former students include:
Professor N V Chalapathi Rao (PhD Cambridge 1997), Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences.
Dr Mahar Lagmay (PhD Cambridge, 2001), Director of Project NOAH – Philippines national disaster prevention and mitigation programme; EGU Medallist, 2014.
Dr Marie Edmonds (PhD Cambridge, 2001), Reader, University of Cambridge.
Dr Seb Watt (DPhil, Oxford, 2011), NERC Fellow, University of Birmingham; EGU Outstanding Young Scientist Awardee, 2014.
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