Marie Edmonds

Marie Edmonds is a British volcanologist. She is a Professor of volcanology and Earth Sciences at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge whose research focuses on the physics and chemistry of volcanic eruptions and magmatism and understanding volatile cycling in the solid Earth as mediated by plate tectonics. Her research investigates the social and economic impacts of natural hazards; and the sustainable use of Earth's mineral and energy resources. Edmonds serves as the Vice President and Ron Oxburgh Fellow in Earth Sciences at Queens' College, Cambridge. In 2024 she became Head of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, having previously been Deputy Head of Department and Director of Research.

Education

Edmonds was educated at Plymouth High School for Girls, Plymouth, Devon. She studied the Natural Science Tripos at Cambridge and was awarded first class Bachelor of Arts degree 1997, specialising in Geological Sciences. She began her PhD the same year at Cambridge graduating in 2002.

After receiving her PhD she served as a volcanologist for the British Geological Survey at its Montserrat Volcano Observatory. From 2004 to 2006 Edmonds was a Mendenhall Fellow with the United States Geological Survey at its Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Since 2007, she has served as a Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge and a Professor at the University of Cambridge, where she teaches igneous petrology, geochemistry, and volcanology.
Edmonds serves as President of the Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology Section of the American Geophysical Union. Edmonds served on the Deep Carbon Observatory's executive committee. Edmonds was Secretary for Science 2014–2018 at the Geological Society of London and was the Volcanology, Petrology Secretary of the American Geophysical Union 2016–2018. Edmonds served as an editor of the AGU journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2017-2025. In 2023, Edmonds became Executive Editor of Bulletin of Volcanology.
Edmonds most cited publications include

A distinct metal fingerprint in arc volcanic emissions
Remobilization of crustal carbon may dominate volcanic arc emissions
New geochemical insights into volcanic degassing
''A miniaturised ultraviolet spectrometer for remote sensing of SO2 fluxes: a new tool for volcano surveillance''

Edmonds was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2025. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Plymouth in 2025. In 2022 she was elected Geochemistry Fellow of the Geochemical Society and European Association of Geochemistry; and in 2021 a Member of the Academia Europaea. She was an AGU College of Fellows Distinguished Lecturer in 2021–2022. In 2021 she received the Bigsby Medal of the Geological Society of London 'for eminent services in the field of geology'. In 2020 Edmonds was one of three recipients of the Joanne Simpson Medal of the American Geophysical Union, its premier mid-career award, which comes with conferred Fellowship of the American Geophysical Union. Edmonds received the Thermo Fisher Scientific VMSG annual Award in 2019. In 2019 she gave Daly Lecture of the American Geophysical Union. In 2017 she received the Wager Medal of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior. In 2014, Edmonds received the William Smith Fund of the Geological Society of London.