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I am a NERC Research Fellow and Lecturer in Volcanological Modelling in the Department of Earth Sciences, at Durham University. My departmental webpage can be found here.

My research addresses problems in physical volcanology through laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. I am motivated by a desire to understand the physical controls on volcanic eruptive style - in particular the unpredictable switching between extrusive and explosive eruptions which is characteristic of certain volcanoes.

Volcanic eruptions are driven by the formation and growth of bubbles, which typically range in size from a few microns to a few centimetres. There are many physical processes that occur at this scale, the volcanic mesoscale, which are fundamental to volcanic behaviour. My current research focusses on two of these: permeating gas flow through volcanic rocks and magma, and the rheology of crystal- and bubble-bearing magma. Further details can be found on my research pages.

Recently, I have developed a lattice Boltzmann model, LBflow, for the numerical investigation of mesoscale processes in volcanic systems. The code is accurate, efficient and easy to use. It is also designed to be flexible and extensible, and could find application in a broad range of flow problems. Further details, including how to obtain the model, are available on my LBflow pages.