Professor Thomas Aubry joined St Hugh’s at Tutorial Fellow in Earth Sciences in Michaelmas Term 2025. Thomas is originally from France where he was trained in physics and climate science at the École Normale Supérieure, before completing a PhD in physical volcanology at the University of British Columbia (Canada) in 2018. He subsequently held individual research fellowships at the University of Cambridge and Sidney Sussex College, before taking up a lectureship at the University of Exeter in 2022. His group pushes for a whole-system understanding of climate and volcanoes to improve mitigation of volcanic environmental and societal impacts. Thomas will be a lead author of the upcoming 7th Assessment Report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and he co-chairs the Tephra Hazard Modelling Commission of IAVCEI, the international association of volcanology. In his spare time, he enjoys anything outdoorsy and active.
Research Interests
My group works at the crossroad of climate science and physical volcanology, and aims to help societies face climate change and natural hazards. Our three core research themes are:
1) Understanding the rise and dispersion of ash and gas columns produced by explosive volcanic eruptions, and associated hazards for our society.
2) Understanding how explosive volcanic eruptions affect climate, both in the past and in the future.
3) Understanding how climate change could affect volcanic processes and, in turn, the ash hazards and climatic impacts of volcanic eruptions.
We use numerical modelling, laboratory experiments, satellite remote sensing and field studies to investigate these topics. Please check my website for more information! Don’t hesitate me to contact me to discuss project ideas, e.g. postdoctoral fellowship applications or PhD scholarship applications. Most postdoctoral fellowship schemes relevant to join Oxford have deadlines between August and March.
Publications
A full publication list can be viewed at Thomas J. Aubry – Google Scholar.
