Dr Céline Vidal
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Role
College Lecturer (Type 1 CTO) (Geography)
Director of Studies (Geography) -
Research
Building a tephrostratigraphy lattice of the Ethiopian and Turkana Rift, using tephra to link paleoanthropological and archaeological sites with the volcanological record
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Awards, Degrees, Honours
BSc.,MSc,MSc,PhD,PhD
Céline is a volcanologist at the Department of Geography. She joined Cambridge in 2016 after completing her PhD in Earth, Environment and Planet Science at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris - Université Sorbonne Paris Cité in France. She is now a Lecturer of Geography and Director of Studies at Fitzwilliam.
Céline's research uses forensic volcanology to reconstruct large eruptions of the past that impacted climate and civilisations. She collects and analyses volcanic rocks and ash layers to identify and reconstruct chemical and physical processes of large-magnitude explosive eruptions.
Her current research focuses on building a stratigraphic framework of the Ethiopian and Kenyan Rifts using the fingerprint of volcanic ash layer to link paleoanthropological and archaeological sites with the eruption record. This will help to understand the impact of eruptions on our ancestors in the African Rift Valley.
Céline is also a painter and a yoga and meditation teacher.