David Rothery
David A. Rothery is professor of planetary geosciences at the Open University, where he chairs a level 2 module Planetary Science and the Search for Life and a level 1 module Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis. He serves on the Open University's Senate.
David Rothery | |
|---|---|
| Born | David A. Rothery |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (MA) Open University (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Open University |
| Thesis | The evolution of Wuqbah block and the applications of remote sensing in the Oman ophiolite (1982) |
| Doctoral advisors | Ian Graham Gass, Don Mallick |
| Other academic advisors | Peter Francis (volcanologist), Steven A Drury |
| Doctoral students | Clive Oppenheimer, |
| Website | open |
From 1999 to 2004 he worked on the Beagle2 project led by Colin Pillinger. In 2006 he was appointed U.K. lead scientist for the MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer) on the joint European Space Agency/JAXA mission to Mercury named BepiColombo. He leads the European Space Agency's Mercury Surface & Composition Working Group in preparation for the BepiColombo mission, which was successfully launched on 20 October 2018. He has been a guest several times on The Sky at Night, and is frequently featured or quoted in TV, radio, print and online news stories about planetary science, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis.