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David Pyle

Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
I studied Geological Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and then completed a PhD in Volcanology, working on the Greek island volcano of Santorini, and in the East African Rift. After a Research Fellowship in Cambridge, including a year as a visiting researcher at the California Institute of Technology, I took up a lectureship in Earth Sciences in Cambridge in 1992. I moved to the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford in 2006. My research focusses on the behaviour and histories of young and active volcanoes. I have worked extensively on volcanoes in Latin America, Ethiopia, and the Caribbean; and have worked on the rapid-response to volcanic unrest and eruptions in a number of different settings.

I am passionate about public and community engagement. Amongst others, I am involved with Oxford Sparks (http://www.oxfordsparks.ox.ac.uk); was part of the team that created Volcanoes Top Trumps (http://www.volcanoestoptrumps.org), and am currently working on the scientific, political and cultural responses to volcanic crises (https://curatingcrises.omeka.net/).

Iceland on high alert for volcanic eruption – what we know so far

Nov 15, 2023 01:43 am UTC| Nature

The Reykjanes peninsula in south-west Iceland trembled with an intense swarm of earthquakes on the afternoon of Friday November 10. Hundreds of quakes were detected on the regional networks of seismometers and several were...

Economy

Western Pharma Shifts Focus from China to India Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions

Western drugmakers are increasingly turning to alternative sources for drug production and clinical trials, shifting their attention away from Chinese contractors. According to industry experts and executives, this...

Stellantis and Italian Government Discuss Measures to Increase Car Production

Stellantis has initiated in-depth discussions with the Italian government with the primary objective of bolstering car production within the country. This collaborative effort aims to boost economic growth and streamline...

How governments use IMF bailouts to hurt political opponents – new research

Sri Lanka received a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March amid soaring inflation, debt and a sovereign default. In exchange for US$3 billion (2.4 billion), the government committed to spending...

The government just killed 50 infrastructure projects – what matters is whether it will fund them on merit from now on

The federal government has just announced a list of projects to be abandoned as a result of an independent strategic review of its infrastructure investment program. The review found the cost of the A$120 billion,...

Interim housing isn't just a roof and four walls. Good design is key to getting people out of homelessness

State governments across the country have plans to increase social and affordable housing to address ballooning waitlists. While necessary, this wont be enough to clear the backlog of people waiting for public...

Politics

What Joe Biden's meeting with Xi Jinping means for geopolitical tensions

U.S. President Joe Biden has engaged in a crucial face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco. This high-stakes diplomatic encounter was...

How a new identity-focused ideology has trapped the left and undermined social justice

Yasha Mounks new book, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time, explores a radical progressive ideology that has been taking the world by storm. From its unlikely beginnings in esoteric scholarly theories...

Rwanda plan: Rishi Sunak has insisted on pushing ahead – here's where he could take it next

The UK supreme court has ruled against the governments plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. But this isnt the end of the story a version of the plan is likely to resurface in some form. The initial...

Myanmar’s military junta appears to be in terminal decline

Myint Swe, the acting president of Mynamars military government, has warned that the country will be split into various parts after his armed forces suffered huge territorial losses to resistance fighters recently. His...

China: why there has been a sudden 'surge' of antisemitism in the People's Republic

During the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, many nations have tried to maintain a neutral stance by not explicitly supporting either side. But despite attempts at balanced commentaries at the top of business and...

Science

NASA's first successful recovery of asteroid samples may reveal information about the origins of the universe

The OSIRIS-REx mission is NASAs first mission to collect samples from an asteroid in this case 101955 Bennu and return to Earth. OSIRIS-REx is an acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification,...

Did this chemical reaction create the building blocks of life on Earth?

How did life begin? How did chemical reactions on the early Earth create complex, self-replicating structures that developed into living things as we know them? According to one school of thought, before the current era...

Will Saturn's rings really 'disappear' by 2025? An astronomer explains

If you can get your hands on a telescope, there are few sights more spectacular than the magnificent ringed planet Saturn. Currently, Saturn is clearly visible in the evening sky, at its highest just after sunset. Its...

Specialized training programs using sensory augmentation devices could prevent astronauts from getting disoriented in space

When landing on the surface of the Moon, astronauts can become spatially disoriented, which is when they lose sense of their orientation they might not be able to tell which way is up. This disorientation can lead to...

Is some of the body that collided with Earth to form the Moon still recognisable inside our planet?

Scientists have dated the birth of the Solar System to about 4.57 billion years ago. About 60 million years later a giant impact collision between the infant Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia created the...

Technology

Software Issue Disrupts Didi Rides, Upsetting Commuters Across China

Didi Global Inc., Chinas equivalent of Uber Technologies Inc., faced a significant setback due to a software malfunction. This technical hiccup led to widespread service outages, impacting numerous commuters. Many...

China’s DiDi fined over $1 billion for data security laws violation

Shanghai Investment Firm 5Y Capital Nears $700 Million Funding Goal Amidst Tech Sector Challenges

Shanghais 5Y Capital, a significant player in venture funding, is nearing its ambitious goal of securing $700 million for a new venture fund. This achievement signals a resurgence of investor interest in the global...

European Tech Sector Faces Challenges and Shows Resilience Amid Global Economic Shifts

The European technology sector is navigating a challenging economic environment, as evidenced by recent data from venture capital firm Atomico. This year, European startups are expected to raise around $42 billion, a...

Hexa, Paris's Quiet Powerhouse in the Startup World

Tucked away in Paris, Hexa, a startup studio, has quietly made waves in the business-to-business (B2B) software realm. Though Hexa may not be a household name, its the force behind several successful unicorns like Front,...

Amazon Launches New Serverless Solutions to Simplify Database Management

Amazon recently unveiled its latest advancements in serverless technology during the AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas. These innovations aim to simplify the management of Aurora, Elastic Cache, and Redshift serverless...