1. Faculty of Environment
  2. School of Earth and Environment
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Dr Susanna Ebmeier

Dr Susanna Ebmeier

  • Position: NERC Independent Research Fellow
  • Areas of expertise: volcanology; satellite remote sensing; InSAR; volcano deformation; volcanic emissions; source separation
  • Email: S.K.Ebmeier@leeds.ac.uk
  • Phone: +44(0)113 343 1503
  • Location: 7.21 Priestley Building
  • Website: Googlescholar | ORCID

Profile

  • Apr 2019 onwards: NERC Independent Research Fellow, University of Leeds
  • May 2016 - Mar 2019: Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Univeristy of Leeds
  • Apr 2015 - May 2016: European Space Agency Fellow, University of Bristol
  • Sep 2012 - March 2015: STREVA & COMET PDRA, University of Bristol
  • Oct 2008 - Sep 2012: DPhil studentship (awarded March 2013),  University of Oxford
  • Jan 2012 - Apr 2012: NERC Policy Fellow, Scottish Parliament Research Centre
  • BSc (Hons.) Geophysics (awarded July 2008), University of Edinburgh

Research interests

I investigate different aspects of volcanic activity using satellite remote sensing. I am interested in the physical processes that control the character of volcanic activity, including magma storage, edifice growth & collapse, and volcanic interactions. An important aspect of my research using satellite imagery is exploring how it can be made useful for volcano monitoring and assessing volcanic hazards.

 

Dr Eoin Reddin, 2018 – 2023, Long-Term Magma Dynamics and Volcanic Deformation, with Application to the Western Galápagos.  Read about deep connectivity between Galapagos volcanoes here.

Dr Edna Dualeh, 2017 – 2022, Potential of Synthetic Aperture Radar backscatter for monitoring volcanic eruptions. Article about detection of explosive deposits in radar backscatter at Fuego, Article about retrieval of new volcanic topography from radar backscatter. 

Dr Anza Shakeel, co-supervised 2021-2022. Unsupervised Automatic Detection Of Transient Phenomena In InSAR Time-Series using Machine Learning, ALADDIn article.

Current PhD students:

Lead supervisor:

Jennifer Castelino, since July 2019, Fluid Dynamics CDT, Dynamics of Mushy Magmatic Systems 

Pedro Espin Bedon (member of Instituto Geofisico EPN, Ecuador), since October 2020, GCRF, Volcanic and Earthquake Hazard in Quito and Ecuador. 

Megan Udy, since October 2020, SENSE CDT, Satellite detection of volcanic eruption impacts on forests

Alice Hopkins, since October 2022, SENSE CDT, Investigating Submarine Volcanism from Satellite Imagery

Co-supervisor:

Sani Garba, since Summer 2018, PTDF Nigeria, Assessment of wetland degradation in Africa using multi-sensor data analysis. Proof of concept study in southern Nigeria described here. 

Felix Boschetty, since October 2019, Panorama DTP, Magma Storage, Transport and Eruption at Volcán Villarrica, Chile. Machine learning analysis of mineral compositions at Villarrica desribed here.

Josefa Sepulveda Araya, since 2021, Mush zone deformation at different tectonic settings

Rachel Bilsland, since 2021, DEEPVOLC, Modelling Surface Deformation Due to Magma Migration Through Mush Zones

Daniel Sefton, since 2021, SENSE CDT, Detecting and modelling transient crustal deformation using Sentinel-1 InSAR and Machine Learning

John Condon, since 2023, InSAR constraints on shallow earthquakes

 

MSc students:

2014-2015, University of Bristol, Kirsten Stephens, 'Transient deformation associated with explosive eruption measured at Masaya volcano (Nicaragua) using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar'. Paper here.

Final year student projects:

MGeophys:

2016-17, Rob Watson, 'Topographic analysis of volcanic structures on Chiles and Cerro Negro volcanoes using DEMs derived from TanDEM-X bistatic satellite radar'
2017-18, Alexandra Odell, 'Investigation into the 2014 eruption of Kelud volcano, Indonesia using CosmoSkyMed data', contribution to this article
2018-19, Aidan Loasby, 'Geodetic investigation of recent Costa Rican volcanism'
2018-19, Emily Holland, 'Exploring the impact of emissions from marine volcanoes'

2023-, Isabelle White, ‘Subsidence and alteration of lava flows in the Western Galapagos’

BSc:

2017-18, Alexander Paul, 'Hillslope processes and earthquakes in Central Italy using Sentinel-1 satellite radar techniques'

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Some research projects I'm currently working on, or have worked on, will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • DPhil, University of Oxford
  • BSc, Geophysics, University of Edinburgh

Student education

I teach critical thinking and communication for geophysics and supervise research projects.   This involves the development of scientific writing and presentations skills, opportunities to practise reading scientific papers and exercises in quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and philosophy of science.   Slides and other resources are available through Minerva for those registered on the modules.

Research groups and institutes

  • Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics
  • Volcanology

Current postgraduate researchers

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>