Bill McGuire is – by inclination and training
– a volcanologist, and has worked on and visited volcanoes across
the world. In 1996 he occupied a post of Senior Scientist at the Montserrat
Volcano Observatory at a time of escalating activity and the first
explosive eruption at the Soufriere Hills volcano. He currently holds
the posts of Benfield Professor of Geophysical Hazards and Director
of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London.
The BHRC hosts over 50 core researchers and affiliates and is the
largest academic hazard centre in Europe.Bill’s principal research interests are volcano monitoring and volcanic hazards and global geophysical catastrophes and their impacts. He is also qualified to provide expert comment on a range of other natural hazards, including earthquakes, landslides, and the hazard implications of climate change. He is a staunch supporter of an anthropogenic cause for global warming and an evangelical advocate of the importance of drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate a more climatically hazardous future.
Bill has been the UK’s representative of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior, Secretary of UK Panel of the International Union of Geodesy & Geophysics, and a Council Member of the Geological Society. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society and of the Royal Institution, and is a member of the Royal Institution’s Science Media Panel. Bill was also a member of the UK Government’s Natural Hazard Working Group, established by Prime Minister Tony Blair following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Bill is author of over three hundred books articles and papers. His current academic work, the World Atlas of Natural Hazards was published by Hodder Arnold in August 2004 and his new popular science books, Surviving Armageddon: Solution for a Threatened Planet, and Global Catastrophes: a Very Short Introduction, were published by OUP in – respectively – June 2005 and January 2006. Bill is a member of the Association of British Sciences Writers and a regular contributor to radio, television, and the press on hazard-related matters. He presented the BBC Radio 4 series Disasters in Waiting and Scientists Under Pressure.
Bill lives in Hampton with his wife Anna, son Fraser, and cats Jetsam, Driftwood, and Dave.