Professor Hammond's Inaugural Lecture - From the Seychelles to North Korea: Imaging the Earth One Piece at a Time
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck Clore Management Centre
In this lecture, Professor Hammond will look back on 20 years work using seismology to image the Earth. From studying the formation of the Indian Ocean in the Seychelles, to imaging magma chambers in the Andes, East-Africa, the Caribbean and North Korea, James will show how seismology is our best tool to directly probe the interior of the Earth (and other planets).
The lecture will highlight the importance of international collaboration in all these projects, reflecting on some of the unlikely collaborations he has led in places like North Korea and Eritrea and how these offer diplomatic opportunities in an increasingly geopolitically fragmenting world.
Biography
James Hammond is a Professor of Geophysics at Birkbeck, University of London. His research uses seismology to image inside the Earth. This ranges from imaging the crust and deeper mantle to understand the driving forces behind plate tectonics to studying the soil properties in teh critical zone. A recent focus is on imaging and understanding how rocks melt and how this melt migrates and is stored in the Earth's crust and mantle. He conducts large field projects, working in the UK, East-Africa, Chile, China and the Korean Peninsula.
James has recently led projects to study Mount Paektu, a volcano that straddles the China-Democratic People's Republic of Korea border. This project, an example of how science and diplomacy can work together, led to the development of the Mount Paektu Research Centre of which James is Director. The Center focusses on developing new scientific collaboration with DPRK scientists on Paektu and other areas of environmental science.
James teaches geophysics and scientific computing and data modelling at undergraduate level. He is a Secretary (G) of the Royal Astronomical Society, UK Chair for the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and Treasurer for the British Geophysical Association.
The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in the Clore Foyer.
Contact name: Chris Fray
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