Prof. Stephen Self
Science and Ideas Group Assessing Long-Term Risk From Volcanism at the US High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository Site, Yucca Mountain, NV Professor Stephen Self
Talk summary: Professor Self will talk about assessing risk from natural hazards, especially volcanism, over very long periods, appropriate to nations such as the US and Germany where plans for disposal of high-level nuclear waste are being shelved by the government. He will also discuss the long-term situation that such actions force nations to take, and current attempts at interim storage in the US, where storage is perceived differently from disposal. His experience in this topic stems from 10 years working for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, from which he retired in 2018. Professor Stephen Self: Steve has studied volcanic rocks in many parts of the world, concentrating on large (flood) lava effusions, explosive eruptions, and the impact of volcanism on the atmosphere. His current research interests include mechanisms and products of flood basalt and explosive super-eruptions plus several other projects (see www.stephenself.com). He has published and lectured widely on the impact of large-scale volcanic eruptions on the environment and society, relevant to both our present and future world, and past Earth history. Steve lives in Alameda, California, and retired in 2018 from his position as Senior Geologist/Volcanologist with the US-Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Previously, he was Chair of Volcanology at The Open University (2001-2008) in England, UK, and a past leader of the UK Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group. Before 2001 he was Professor of Geology at the University of Hawai’i-Mānoa. Steve is currently an Adjunct Professor with the Earth and Planetary Science Department at University of California - Berkeley. He is a Life Member of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI, an association of IUGG) and stepped down as Vice-President of IAVCEI in 2016. Steve is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and the Geological Society (London). He is pictured in 2019 at Stonehenge in England.