Professor Nick Pearce graduated with a BSc in Geology with Geochemistry from the University of Manchester, and followed this with a PhD at the University of Durham on the petrogenesis of the mid Proterozoic alkaline Gardar dyke swarm from South Greenland. He worked in Aberystwyth as a temporary lecturer in geology in the late 1980s and early 1990s before a brief spell as Senior Geologist at the Countryside Council for Wales. He returned permanently to a lecturing post Aberystwyth in 1994 and has since perused research interests in the trace element analysis and correlation of tephra deposits. Nick has worked on the development of laser ablation ICP-MS methods for the analysis of tiny fragments of volcanic glass, and has applied this to studies of tephra from around the worls, including particularly the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Iceland, Santorini, Indonesia and most recently Chile. Nick also has research interests in metal mine remediation and environmental geochemistry.

Research Interests

Tephra studies in the eastern Mediterranean, New Zealand, Indonesia (Toba), Western USA (Yellowstone, Mt St Helens), Yukon/Alaska and Southern Chile. Development of laser ablation ICP-MS methods for tephra analysis. Mine drainage remediation. Environmental geochemistry.

Current PhD Students

• Svenja Riedesel