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Dr. Michael Stock

Assistant Professor (Geology)

 


RESEARCH My research is divided into 2 themes: Igneous petrology: my core research is focussed on using novel petrological/geochemical techniques to understand the architecture/dynamics of magma systems. I have developed a multidisciplinary research method which integrates these datasets with aspects of petrography, geophysics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and analytical development. Environmental geochemistry: since arriving in TCD, I have established the Earth Surface Research Laboratory as a national geochemical facility. I have directed the lab through a 2-year process to obtain a prestigious ISO17025 accreditation and manage a €2.5M GSI grant to maintain the facility and run Government analyses. In founding the ESRL, I developed a new interest in environmental chemistry, specifically investigating heavy metal pollution in urban soils. I have established a vibrant research group which currently includes 2 technicians, 1 postdoc, 1 PhD and 1 research MSc student, with another 2 PhDs and 2 postdocs arriving in the next 6-24 months (and 1 MSc pending approval). I supervise one of the technicians as a part-time PhD student and co-supervise a PhD student in the UK. I also have 2 long-term Visiting Academic Fellows intending to join the group in the next 6 months. Since arriving in TCD, I have published 6 papers in top journals as first/co-author (2 in Nature Communications), with 2 in review and 1 for imminent submission. I have funded this research through competitive grants and postgraduate studentships, including: an SFI Frontiers for the Future Project (€625,552 FEC), an IRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (€91,970 FEC) and a Provost's PhD Award (€131,240 FEC). I am also co-I on NERC Future Leaders Fellowship and GSI Short Call project, and recently contributed to a successful GSI Equipment Call. TEACHING I have a research-led teaching philosophy, using my experience in volcanology/environmental geochemistry to show students how theoretical chemistry/physics can be applied to solve real-world problems. By introducing them to recent research breakthroughs and outstanding challenges, I aim to produce inquisitive, independent students with the ability to pursue their own interests. I have developed a Senior Freshman module (Introduction to Geochemistry) which equips SNS students with the chemical background required to undertake advanced geochemistry courses. This is a theory-heavy course, requiring innovative teaching to engage students: I contextualise conceptual ideas with clear geological examples in lecturers and run practicals where the students apply their learning to real-world datasets. I also embed quizzes within lectures to retain attention. I am currently taking over the Geology Research Methods module and am working with colleagues to explore novel teaching methods. I am also developing a Senior Sophister module in Advanced Igneous Petrology, which will provide TCD students with the skills required to pursue volcanological research, building on Ireland's reputation as a centre of excellence in this area. To continue improving as a teacher, I am undertaking an MEd in Higher Education in the School of Education. COLLEGE CONTRIBUTION I am the Geology International Students Coordinator and SNS Global Relations Committee rep. The department has recently seen an increase in the number of students wishing to take a year abroad, and I have been working to facilitate greater mobility through streamlining the Geology Erasmus programme (better integration with the TR062 course) and exploring opportunities for new Erasmus agreements. I am a College Tutor and enjoy supporting students, even with some of my Chamber struggling through difficult circumstances during COVID. I have extensively represented the College nationally and internationally: I regularly engage with the media (print, radio, TV), I am a member of a UK Government committee on national geoscience resourcing, and I've made high-level policy contributions
  apatite   Economic Geology   EXPLORATION GEOCHEMISTRY   GEOCHEMISTRY   GEOLOGY   Igenous and metamorphic petrology   Petrology, Minerology, Geochemistry   SOIL CHEMISTRY   TRACE ELEMENT GEOCHEMISTRY   Volcanology
 Developing a process-based understanding of platinum group element mineralisation: a natural laboratory in Ireland (Critical-Ireland)
 Determining the impact of mush dynamics on the style of volcanic eruptions at the active Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy
 Messages from the deep: Assessing the thermal and chemical evolution of the mantle during the initiation of the North Atlantic Igneous Province
 Earth Surface Research Laboratory
 Hyperspectral Analysis of the Mourne Mountains (HAMM)

Details Date
Founder/Organiser, Dublin Magmatism Group (inter-institutional research group with DIAS and UCD) 2022-present
Editorial Board Member, Irish Journal of Earth Sciences (RIA) 2023-present
Expert Witness, Northern Irish Department for the Economy report on `Considering Responsible Critical Minerals (re) sourcing in Northern Ireland' 2023
Produced/processed data during on-going eruption (Fernandina Volcano, Galapagos) for use in Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional official monitoring report 2017
Session Co-convener ('Volatiles and metals in volcanic systems') and Conference Fieldtrip Leader (Carlingford and Slieve Gullion)- European Mineralogical Conference, Dublin 2024
External Technical Interviewer (Laboratory Manager role), The Company of Goldsmiths of Dublin/Assay Office 2024
Internal PhD Examiner for Bruna Melo (DIAS-based student registered in Trinity) 2023
Expert Witness, UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology briefing paper 'The co-ordination/communication between the departments who plan against/for hazards and the local responders' 2020
Invited Member, NERC Deep Dive Working Group on Earth and Terrestrial Science Support Facilities 2022
Journal reviewer (high-impact international publications): Nature Communications, Geology, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Chemical Geology, Volcanica, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, Journal of Petrology (regular reviewer) 2018-present
Research grant reviewer: United States National Science Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation, German Research Foundation, Hong Kong Research Council, institutional funding schemes (University of Iceland, Charles University Prague) 2020-present
Guest Editor, Frontiers in Earth Science volume on 'Multidisciplinary investigations for determining the structure and dynamics of active volcanic systems' 2021-2022
Expert Witness, UK House of Lords Select Committee Enquiry on 'Risk Assessment and Risk Planning' 2020
Expert Witness, UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology briefing paper 'How Government Departments make decisions on investment in risk planning' 2020
UK Parliamentary Academic Fellow and author of Parliamentary Policy Brief on 'Evaluating UK natural hazards: the national risk assessment' 2019
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
Editorial Board Member, Irish Journal of Earth Sciences (RIA) 2023 present
Member, UK/Irish Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group 2012 present
Fellow, Geological Society of London 2015 2020
Member, International Association of Volcanology and the Chemistry of the Earth's Interior 2015 2020
Fellow and Governing Body Member, Christ's College Cambridge 2016 2019
Member, Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2012 2018
Hernández-Sánchez, M.T., Hepburn, L., Stock, M.J., Connelly, D.P., and Pancost, R.D., The microbial lipid signature in sediments and chimneys within a back-arc basin hydrothermal system south of the Antarctic Polar Front, Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 206, 2024, p104247-, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Huang, W., Stock, M.J., Guyett, P.C., Liang, H., Sun, W., and Lai, C.-K., Reconstructing volatile exsolution in porphyry ore-forming magma chamber: Perspectives from apatite inclusions, American Mineralogist, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Binner, B., Wojda, P., Yunta, F., Breure, T., Schievano, A., Massaro, E., Jones, A., Newell, J., Paradelo, R., Boaj", I.P., Baltr"nait"-Gedien", E., Tuttolomondo, T., Iacuzzi, N., Bondi, G., Zupanc, V., Mamy, L., Pacini, L., De Feudis, M., Cardelli, V., Kici"ska, A., Stock, M.J., Liu, H., Demiraj, E., and Schillaci, C., A Systematic Review and Characterization of the Major and Most Studied Urban Soil Threats in the European Union, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 235, 2024, p494-, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Higgins, O., and Stock, M.J., A new calibration of the OPAM thermobarometer for anhydrous and hydrous mafic systems, Journal of Petrology, 65, (5), 2024, pegae043-, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Carter, E.J., Stock, M.J., Beresford-Browne, A., Cooper, M., Raine, R., and Fereyrolles, A., Volcanic tempo driven by rapid fluctuations in mantle temperature during large igneous province emplacement, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2024, Journal Article, IN_PRESS
Whittaker, L.J., Stock, M.J., Smith, V.C., Mutch, E., Wieser, P., and Isaia, R., Recharge driven uplift prior to the 1538 CE Monte Nuovo eruption (Campi Flegrei): correlating historical chronicles and contemporary petrology, Geology, 2024, Journal Article, SUBMITTED
Gleeson, M., Wieser, P., DeVitre, C.L., Shi, S.C., Millet, M.-A., Muir, D.D., Stock, M.J., and Lissenberg, J., Persistent high-pressure magma storage beneath a near ridge ocean island volcano (Isla Floreana, Galápagos), Journal of Petrology, 2024, Journal Article, SUBMITTED
Brookfield, A., Cassidy, M., Popa, R-G, Bachmann, O., and Stock, M.J., Magmatic volatile content and the overpressure `sweet spot": implications for volcanic eruption triggering and style, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 444, 2023, p107916-, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Huang, W., Stock, M.J., Cui, Z., Xia, X.-P., Liuyun, O., Zhang, J., Chen, X., and Liang, H., Determining the impact of magma water contents on porphyry Cu fertility: constraints from hydrous and nominally anhydrous mineral analysis, GSA Bulletin, 2023, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI  URL
Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, (2022), Isaia, R., Di Giuseppe, M.G., Gottsmann, J., Stock, M., and Troiano, A., [Topic Editor in Volcanology], 2 years, Notes: [Topic Editor for a Special Volume on "Multidisciplinary Investigations for Determining the Structure and Dynamics of Active Volcanic Systems"], Journal, PUBLISHED
  

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Cioni, R., Isaia, R., Sulpizio, R., de Vita, S., Di Vito, M.A., Pistolesi, M., Smith, V., Stock, M., and Talamo, P., 'The city of Napoli and its active volcanoes', Geological Field Trips and Maps, Societa Geologica Italiana, 2018, -, Fieldwork collection, PUBLISHED
Stock, M.J., The volatile history of past volcanic eruptions, University of Oxford, 2016, Thesis, PUBLISHED
Stock, M.J., Phenocryst Zoning Within Cumulate Xenoliths: An Insight Into Magma Evolution Prior to a Major Plinian Eruption on Tenerife, Canary Islands, University of Southampton, 2011, Thesis, PUBLISHED

  

Award Date
Sedgwick Prize, University of Cambridge 2018
Bob Hunter Prize, VMSG 2015
Best Graduating Geology Student Prize, University of Southampton 2011
Progression Scholarship, University of Southampton 2010
Progression Scholarship, University of Southampton 2009
D. E. Wisden Prize, University of Southampton 2009
The generation, ascent and eruption of magma underpins fundamental Earth systems, and has applied implications for the formation of economic mineral deposits and the management of volcanic hazards. However, the architecture and dynamics of magmatic systems remain poorly understood due to the complexity of their physicochemical interactions and our inability to directly observe the deep Earth. My research combines state-of-the-art geochemical analyses of igneous rocks at Earth"s surface with novel thermodynamic/physical models to advance our first-order understanding of these systems. This centres around three main themes: - Constraining the magmatic processes which generate critical metal deposits, using ancient/exhumed magma chambers to understand first-order mineralising processes and develop new exploration tools. The EU is facing a major shortage of the metals required for modern technologies and I have positioned Trinity as a global leader to address this challenge. - Understanding controls on the timing/style of volcanic eruptions and how eruption triggers manifest in volcano monitoring data. This work directly impacts volcanic hazard management and I work closely with government scientists, translating my work into applied policy/monitoring improvements. - Constraining the intrinsic links between mantle, crustal and volcanic processes. I have an established programme of innovative research using basaltic volcanoes (principally Galapagos) as "natural laboratories" to interrogate the interplay between different parts of planet, constraining the fundamental development of the Earth system. I have been successful in securing grants to support this research, raising >€1.1M funding within five years. This has allowed me to develop a large research group and establish Trinity as a centre of excellence in igneous petrology/geochemistry. I also founded (and direct) the ESRL " a national geochemical research facility, hosted within Trinity and funded through a €2.5M SLA. This state-of-the-art facility supplies the Government with geochemical data and has supported >50 research projects since 2020.