Peter Kokelaar
B. Peter Kokelaar | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Wales (BSc, PhD) University of Oxford (MSc) |
| Awards | Murchison Medal (2013) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Volcanology |
| Institutions | Ulster University University of Liverpool |
| Thesis | The igneous history of the Rhobell Fawr area, Merioneth, North Wales. (1977) |
Peter Kokelaar is a British volcanologist, known for his field studies of volcanoes and volcanic processes ancient and modern. He was awarded the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London in 2013.
Early life and education
[edit]Kokelaar was born on the Gower Peninsula, Wales, and went to Penclawdd Junior School. He next studied at Gowerton Grammar School and then at Llandaff Technical College, Cardiff. Kokelaar studied geology at Aberystwyth University, gaining a BSc, and then an MSc in geochemistry at the University of Oxford. He then returned to Aberystwyth University, where he completed a PhD on the Ordovician volcanic rocks of the Harlech dome, Snowdonia. Kokelaar worked at Ulster University for ten years, before moving to the University of Liverpool as Reader in Geology. He was later appointed the George Herdman Professor of Geology. Kokelaar retired in 2014.[1]
Career
[edit]Kokelaar is known for his field studies of volcanic rocks, and of volcanic processes, in both ancient geological settings, and on geologically-young volcanoes. He has worked on aspects of submarine volcanism, and submarine deposition of volcanic rocks. He has also worked extensively on the mechanisms of caldera collapse, both at the ancient volcanoes of Glencoe and in the British Lake District.[2] In the late 1990s, Kokelaar was involved in an assessment of the response to the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano, on Montserrat.[3]
In 1996, Kokelaar presented a case on behalf of the Friends of the Earth to the Sellafield enquiry, laying out the complexity of the bedrock conditions in the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, and presenting the case against the then plans by UK NIREX Ltd to construct a rock characterisation facility as a part of a plan for an underground repository for the radioactive waste disposal.[4][5] Plans for the waste disposal facility were shelved.
Kokelaar was awarded the Murchison medal in 2013 in recognition of his contributions to volcanology.[6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ "About the Author". August 21, 2021.
- ^ "It's time for the rock n roll show". Whitehaven News. March 10, 2010.
- ^ "Montserrat evacuation remembered". September 12, 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Kokelaar, P; Smythe, D.K. (1996). "The Borrowdale Volcanic Group Supplementary proof of evidence. United Kingdom: University of Glasgow".
- ^ "Nirex and the great denouement".
- ^ "Murchison medal for academic" – via University of Liverpool.
- ^ "The Geological Society of London - 2013 Awards Citations replies". www.geolsoc.org.uk.