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Dr Rebecca Williams

Dr Rebecca Williams

Reader in Volcanology; Associate Dean for Student Experience

+44 (0)1482 465578 | Rebecca.Williams@hull.ac.uk

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • School of Environmental Sciences

Related groups

  • Geology

Summary

Earth Scientist who takes an interdisciplinary approach to volcano research. Rebecca's research focusses on volcano-stratigraphy and hazardous volcanic flows (pyroclastic density currents and lahars), social-historical volcanology, and the communication of volcano science. All this drives towards understanding how communities may be affected by volcanic eruptions past, present and future.

An expert on equality, diversity and inclusivity in curriculum design. Rebecca's research in this area seeks to understand the links between the colonial legacy of Earth Science, the pedagogy of our discipline and inequities in the access, retention and success of diverse student cohorts. Rebecca's practice in this arena seeks to effect positive change in Higher Education, with a particular focus on the Earth Sciences across the sector, and across disciplines and faculties within University of Hull.

Rebecca is a dedicated science communicator, appearing on international radio, news and television.

Rebecca teaches across the Geology and Geography degree programmes, in particular on the Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Geohazards and Volcanoes and their Hazards modules.

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

Simultaneous fall and flow during pyroclastic eruptions: A novel proximal hybrid facies

Dowey, N., & Williams, R. (2022). Simultaneous fall and flow during pyroclastic eruptions: A novel proximal hybrid facies. Geology, 50(10), 1187-1191. https://doi.org/10.1130/G50169.1

Geology Uprooted! Decolonising the Curriculum for Geologists

Rogers, S. L., Dowey, N., Lau, L., Sheikh, H., & Williams, R. (2022). Geology Uprooted! Decolonising the Curriculum for Geologists. Geoscience Communication, 5(3), 189–204. https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-2021-35

Volcanologists—who are we and where are we going?

Kavanagh, J. L., Annen, C. J., Burchardt, S., Chalk, C., Gallant, E., Morin, J., …Williams, R. (2022). Volcanologists—who are we and where are we going?. Bulletin of volcanology, 84(5), Article 53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-022-01547-7

Publishing a Special Issue of Reports from the volcano observatories in Latin America

Chevrel, O., Wadsworth, F. B., Farquharson, J. I., Kushnir, A. R., Heap, M. J., Williams, R., …Kennedy, B. (2021). Publishing a Special Issue of Reports from the volcano observatories in Latin America. Volcanica, 4(S1), I-III. https://doi.org/10.30909/vol.04.S1.ivi

A UK perspective on tackling the geoscience racial diversity crisis in the Global North

Barclay, J., Dowey, N., Fernando, B., Giles, S., Houghton, J., Jackson, C., …Williams, R. (in press). A UK perspective on tackling the geoscience racial diversity crisis in the Global North. Nature Geoscience, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00737-w

Research interests

Volcanology; Petrology; Science Communication; Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity.

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Decolonising UK Earth Science pedagogy - from the hidden histories of our geological institutions to inclusive curricula

Funder

AHRC Arts & Humanities Research Council

Grant

£87,300.00

Started

4 January 2022

Status

Ongoing

Project

QR-GCRF 20.21.PPF13 - Strengthening Geoscience Education for Sustainable Development in Kenya

Funder

00 University of Hull

Grant

£23,076.00

Started

1 May 2021

Status

Complete

Project

GeoCoLab

Funder

NERC Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£10,888.00

Started

15 December 2021

Status

Complete

Project

Building solid ground for racial diversity in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences postgraduate research

Funder

NERC Natural Environment Research Council

Grant

£3,437.00

Started

1 December 2021

Status

Complete

Project

SmartLapilli - Royal Society International Exchange

Funder

Royal Society

Grant

£2,995.00

Started

2 November 2022

Status

Complete

Postgraduate supervision

Rebecca is the PI of the Catastrophic Flows Research Cluster. Rebecca welcomes PhD applications in volcanic flows, igneous petrology, modelling volcanic processes, volcanic stratigraphy (including tephrostratigraphy) and historical/social/cultural volcanology. Also on the history of Earth Science, and EDI in Earth Science.

Current PhD students:

Walding, N. The PDC flow units problem: Deposit heterogeneity from varying cohesive behavior and sediment flux

Completed PhDs:

Chen, Y, 2021. Submarine Channel Knickpoints and Bedforms. University of Hull.

Smith, G, 2021. Propagation of aerated pyroclastic density current analogues: flow behaviour and the formation of bedforms and deposits. University of Hull.

Scarlett, J, 2020. Coexisting with volcanoes : the relationships between La Soufrière and the society of St. Vincent, Lesser Antilles. University of Hull.

Jordan N, 2015. Pre-Green Tuff explosive eruptive history, petrogenesis and proximal-distal tephra correlations of a peralkaline caldera volcano, Pantelleria, Italy. University of Leicester.

Awards and prizes

British Science Assoication Charles Lyell Award

2017 - 2017

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