Rónadh Cox

Rónadh Cox
Ronadh Cox (geologist)
Born1962 (age 61–62)
Dublin, Ireland
Alma materUniversity College Dublin (BS)
Stanford University
Scientific career
InstitutionsRand Afrikaans University
Williams College
ThesisSediment recycling, crustal development and compositional evolution of clastic sediments, southwestern United States (1993)
Scholia has a profile for Rónadh Cox (Q57416878).

Rónadh Cox (born 1962) is an Irish geologist who is the Edward Brust Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at Williams College, Massachusetts. Her research considers the impact of storms on coastal boulders. She is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of both the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Early life and education

Cox is from Ireland.[1] She says she became interested in geology as a teenager, because her geography teacher "delighted in the natural world,".[2] She attended University College Dublin for her undergraduate degree, where she majored in geology. After earning her bachelor's degree, Cox moved to BP, where she worked as a geological assistant. She moved to the United States for her graduate research, joining Stanford University as a doctoral student. After earning her doctorate, Cox was appointed to the Rand Afrikaans University as a postdoctoral researcher. She spent two years in South Africa before returning to North America.[2]

Research and career

Cox joined the faculty at Williams College in 1996, and was eventually promoted to Edward Brust Professor of Geology and Mineralogy. In 2019 she was concurrently appointed a Visiting Professor in the School of Earth Sciences at UCD.[3]

Cox's research considers how storm waves move boulders.[2] She has studied the impact of strong storms (some equivalent to category 3 hurricanes) on Ireland's west coast, with focus on the Aran Islands.[4] In particular, she showed that 2013-14 Atlantic winter storms in Europe moved numerous hundred-tonne boulders, so-called 'megagravel' the largest ever dislocated by the waves of storms.[5][6][7] Her team also demonstrated formation of new boulders quarried from bedrock by wave action, well above sea level.[2] In 2020, she was awarded a new grant from the National Science Foundation to study the dynamic evolution of boulder beaches.[8]

From 2012 to 2016, Cox served as editor of the journal Geology, and went on to serve on the editorial board.[9]

Awards and honours

Selected publications

  • Cox, Rónadh; Lowe, Donald R.; Cullers, R. L. (1 July 1995). "The influence of sediment recycling and basement composition on evolution of mudrock chemistry in the southwestern United States". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 59 (14): 2919–2940. Bibcode:1995GeCoA..59.2919C. doi:10.1016/0016-7037(95)00185-9. ISSN 0016-7037.
  • Ronadh Cox (1), Donald R. Lowe (2) (1995). "A Conceptual Review of Regional-Scale Controls on the Composition of Clastic Sediment and the Co-Evolution of Continental Blocks and their Sedimentary Cover". SEPM Journal of Sedimentary Research. 65A. doi:10.1306/d4268009-2b26-11d7-8648000102c1865d. ISSN 1527-1404.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Cox, Rónadh; Armstrong, Richard A.; Ashwal, Lewis D. (1 November 1998). "Sedimentology, geochronology and provenance of the Proterozoic Itremo Group, central Madagascar, and implications for pre-Gondwana palaeogeography". Journal of the Geological Society. 155 (6): 1009–1024. Bibcode:1998JGSoc.155.1009C. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.155.6.1009. ISSN 0016-7649. S2CID 128493704.
  • Cox, Rónadh; Jahn, Kalle; Watkins, Oona; Peter, Cox (2018). "Extraordinary boulder transport by storm waves (west of Ireland, winter 2013-2014) and criteria for analysing coastal boulder deposits". Earth-Science Reviews. 177: 623–636. Bibcode:2018ESRv..177..623C. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.12.014.

Personal life

Whilst a doctoral student in California, Cox met her husband, Mark Brandriss.[2]

References

  1. ^ Rónadh Cox. OCLC 4780031689.
  2. ^ a b c d e silicon (17 July 2019). "'It was incredible to see the scale of change and the sheer power of the ocean'". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  3. ^ "UCD School of Earth Sciences | Our People - Faculty". www.ucd.ie. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  4. ^ GEOCOAST (31 October 2019). "The Biggest Coastal Boulders in the World Moved by Waves are on the West Coast of Ireland". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  5. ^ Cox, Rónadh (2020). "Megagravel deposits on the west coast of Ireland show the impacts of severe storms". Weather. 75 (3): 72–77. Bibcode:2020Wthr...75...72C. doi:10.1002/wea.3677. ISSN 1477-8696. S2CID 214082404.
  6. ^ O'Connell, Claire. "The record-breaking power of storm waves at Aran". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  7. ^ Mooney, Chris. "Storm waves moved this 620-ton boulder, scientists say — a stunning testament to the ocean's power". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Williams Geosciences Professor Awarded NSF Grant to Study Boulder Beach Response to Storms / Williamstown.com". williamstown.com. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  9. ^ "GSA Distinguished Service Award - 2020". www.geosociety.org. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Awards and Fellowships". Geosciences. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  11. ^ "FEC Fellows". Future Earth Coasts. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  12. ^ Williams College (30 November 2020). "Congratulations to Professor @Ronadh_Cox, whose research project was awarded the 2020 Atlantic Project Award". Twitter.
  13. ^ "About GSA Awards". www.geosociety.org. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Rónadh Cox". Royal Irish Academy. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  15. ^ "2022 AAAS Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
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