Hazel Rymer

Rymer grew up in Reading, Berkshire[2] and studied physics at the University of Reading. She earned her PhD in geophysics from the Open University which studied sub-surfaces of volcanoes in Costa Rica.[3][4] She looked at the structure of pit craters in Masaya Volcano.[5]

Rymer's research focuses on the environmental and ecological hazards posed by active volcanoes.[6] Rymer looked to track the volatile flux of the Mount Etna, Masaya and Poás volcanoes by monitoring the volcanic plume and environmental sinks.[6][7] She chose these volcanoes because they have persistent, low levels of volcanic activity.[8] Her research looks to inform evacuation strategies and crop cultivation.[6]

Rymer developed new techniques to evaluate the size of supervolcanoes.[9] She has worked on new microgravity meters to monitor the magma inside volcanoes.[10] The gravity meters contain very sensitive spring balances. Rymer places these meters at hundreds of places across a volcano, developing a contour map that details how gravity varies in space.[10] Rymer monitored the volcanoes for extended periods of time, in an effort to monitor the movement of magma, and whether eruptions will be explosive or not.[10] She has kept one gravity meter (GM513) for thirty years.[2] She holds several patents for low-cost gravity metres.[11][12]

She began to study the Poás Volcano, which she describes as her favourite, in 1989.[13][14] Because she has been travelling it for so long, she can make predictions about when the volcanoes may erupt in the future.[14] She leads the citizen science project Earth Watch, and since 2008 has used this to engage members of the public in earth monitoring.[1] Volunteers use Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors to monitor for volcanic gases and devices that collect geoelectric information.[8] Whilst monitoring the Poás Volcano, information from the citizen scientists helped the National Park officials restrict access to the crater during the 2009 degassing.[15] These informed operational guidelines for monitoring degassing for Nicaragua and Costa Rica.[15] As part of her monitoring work, Rymer visited the Poás Volcano in January 2009 when there was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake.[6] The Poás Volcano erupted in 2009 and prevented further study.[8]

She also worked on Askja, a stratovolcano in Iceland, and observed changes in the seismic activity in 2007. She then investigated whether the magma was travelling north and whether it was accumulating below Krafla.[16] She is interested in the environmental impact of volcanoes.[1] She has investigated whether plants and soil are impacted by volcano-dervied heavy elements, so-called "bio-indicators".[8][14] She developed a molecular biology test to monitor the hairs of Tradescantia pallida, where volcanic pollution can cause a visible mutations of a recessive gene that can cause chromosomal damage in pollen.[8] Her group also use inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to study the concentrations of heavy elements in plant material.[8]

She served for six years on the council of the Geological Society of London. She is on the executive committee of the International Council for Open and Distance Education.[17] She contributed to the 2015 Encyclopedia of Volcanoes.[18] In 2016 Rymer appeared on The Life Scientific.[19] Rymer was appointed Pro-Vice Chancellor at the Open University in 2018.[17]