Kate Smith

I am broadly interested in natural hazards and risk management and particularly in volcanoes, how they work, how they have behaved in the past and what they might do next. My main research has been in Iceland - I carried out my PhD on Katla eruptive activity and subglacial floods (jökulhlaups) which led on to a thorough hazard assessment for Katla and Eyjafjallajökull with Icelandic colleagues. Since then the volcanoes Katla, Eyjafjallajokull, Hekla and Snaefellsjokull have been particular foci, using volcanic ash layers (tephra), other volcaniclastic deposits and volcanoglacial landscape mapping to understand eruptive history. most recently I have been carrying out research on the perception of mining-related risks, and the environmental and social impacts associated with this raw material exploration and extraction.

As well as my own research interests I have enjoyed learning from the experience of teaching, from physical volcanology to risk perception and communication for a wide range of natural hazards in the UK and elsewhere, and I find it interesting what new ideas teaching and supporting student research can generate. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

I am based in Cornwall at Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter.