Colin James Ness Wilson (born 19 July 1956) is Professor of

Volcanology Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geology, geological, geophysical and geochemistry, geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin language, Latin ...

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in New Zealand.

Education

Wilson was educated at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology in 1977 followed by a PhD in 1981 for research on

pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

Awards and honours

Wilson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015. His certificate of election reads: In 2017 he was awarded the Rutherford Medal of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

for his research on how large volcanoes behave before and during explosive eruptions, including those that created

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Colin J. N. 1956 births Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Place of birth missing (living people) British volcanologists Recipients of the Rutherford Medal People from Wantage James Cook Research Fellows Alumni of Imperial College London