Geoff Brown

Brown and Fernando Cuenca (left) with colleagues during the preparation of the research work at the Galeras on January 14, 1993. A few hours later, four other scientists and three tourists both died when the volcano erupted.

Geoffrey Charles Brown (born March 11, 1945 in Yorkshire , † January 14, 1993 at Galeras ) was a British geologist and volcanologist . He mainly dealt with the evaluation of geothermal potentials and is considered a pioneer in the field of gravimetric volcano monitoring. He and several colleagues died in an unexpected eruption of the gallery in southwest Colombia .

Life

Personal life, education, and memory

When Brown was four years old, his 44-year-old father, who had worked as a chemistry teacher, died of a heart attack . From then on, his mother raised Geoff alone. She initially ran a pension, then gave piano lessons and eventually became a teacher and headmaster at a primary school. Geoff Brown initially considered becoming a pastor, but then decided to study geology , which had fascinated him from an early age. He enrolled at the University of Manchester , where he received his B.Sc. and in 1970 his Ph.D. attained.

Geoff Brown left behind his wife Evelyn (née Petzing) and their three adult daughters Miriam, Ruth and Iona. He and Evelyn had met during college and married in 1966. She also worked as a geologist, was a member of the teaching staff at the Open University in Nottingham and between 1987 and 1989 published Teaching Earth Sciences, the magazine of the Earth Science Teachers' Association.

In memory of Brown and his outstanding scientific work, the Open University Geological Society launched the Geoff Brown Memorial Fund, whose money will enable the purchase of equipment that local residents of volcanoes can use to independently monitor and measure their activities - for eruptions better predict and minimize the risk to the population. At the annual conference of the Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group - a joint "special interest group" of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Geological Society of London - the Geoff Brown Prize is also presented in memory of the volcanologist who died while practicing his profession “Awarded to the best media-based presentation by a student.

Scientific career

From 1971 to 1977 Brown was a lecturer in geophysics at the University of Liverpool . As early as 1973 he began to work as a part-time lecturer at the Open University , and in 1977 he moved to this institution in Milton Keynes, which mainly supports distance learning , as a lecturer in geosciences . Between 1982 and 1992 Brown was a full professor and from 1983 headed the Department of Earth Sciences at the Open University as director . He also served as President of the Open University Geological Society in 1983/1984 and, since 1989, has chaired the University's Research Committee, which coordinated the allocation of research funds.

Brown's research focus was initially on experimental studies of granites , but from the 1980s onwards he expanded his field of interest to include geothermal energy and gravimetry, and also turned to the study of active volcanoes. Together with Hazel Rymer and other colleagues, he developed new methods of microgravity monitoring that can be used to visualize underground magma movements . In this area he did internationally recognized and pioneering work.

Geoff Brown was a very prolific researcher. He published over 70 scientific articles, supervised twelve Ph.D. students, wrote several basic texts for the study of geology and gave regular lectures at specialist conferences (e.g. in September 1990 on geothermal energy at a conference of the Earth Science Teachers' Association in Egham ). Colleagues also appreciated his teaching methods, his commitment and his didactic skills and emphasized that he knew how to inspire his students in an inimitable way. His understanding of teaching extended beyond pure lectures and seminars. For example, he often appeared on the university's own television program OU TV and the BBC science series Horizon also dealt with his work in the 1986 episode The magma chamber . Brown had a profound understanding of day-to-day university business and administrative structures - especially in relation to the Open University's extraordinary funding concept - and was very successful in acquiring third-party funding . It was largely thanks to his efforts that - donated by the Wolfson Foundation - a new laboratory wing dedicated exclusively to research could be built on the campus, which was inaugurated at the beginning of February 1993.

Bench with a commemorative plaque to Geoff Brown in Beacon Hill, Charnwood, Leicestershire, England.

However, Brown was unable to attend this meeting himself. In January 1993 he took part in a week-long IAVCEI conference in Pasto , Colombia . The aim was to develop geochemical and geophysical monitoring programs for the nearby Galeras volcano . Although this had been active since 1988, it had been stable and calm for the previous six months. During the conference, an international team of several scientists and interested laypeople set out for the crater; it was Brown's first visit to this mountain. The researchers split up into several groups. Brown, together with the young local volcanologist Fernando Cuenca and the civil engineer Carlos Trujillo, collected samples and installed measuring devices in the summit region and at the crater rim. He was last seen alive around 1:30 p.m. climbing a higher ridge and disappearing into the mist. Shortly thereafter, without warning, there was a small but extremely violent eruption that lasted just under 15 minutes. Geoff Brown was killed along with five other researchers (Cuenca, Trujillo, Igor Menjailow , Néstor García and José Arlés Zapata ) and three tourists. His body was never found.

Publications (selection)

• C. Brown, A. Mussett: The inaccessible earth. An integrated view of its structure and composition . London 1981.
• C. Brown, R. Thorpe: The field description of igneous rocks . London 1985.
• C. Brown, E. Skipsey: Energy resources - geology, supply and demand . Maidenhead 1986.
• C. Brown: Geothermal energy: location, exploration and potential . In: Teaching Earth Sciences. Vol. 16, No. 1, 1991, pp. 6-11.
• C. Brown et al .: Understanding the Earth - a new synthesis . Cambridge 1992.

Individual evidence

1. ^ S. Williams, F. Montaigne: Surviving Galeras. Boston 2001, p. 67.
2. ^ C. Wilson, D. Edwards: Obituary for Geoff Brown . In: Teaching Earth Sciences. Vol. 18, No. 1, 1993, p. 28.
3. ↑ H. Rymer: Obituary for Geoff Brown . In: The Independent . February 2, 1993. Retrieved October 5, 2014 from independent.co.uk .