Rónadh Cox
{{short description|Irish geologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Rónadh Cox
| image = Ronadh cox.jpg
| caption = Ronadh Cox (geologist)
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1962}}
| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland
| workplaces = Rand Afrikaans University
Williams College
| alma_mater = University College Dublin (BS)
Stanford University
| thesis_title = Sediment recycling, crustal development and compositional evolution of clastic sediments, southwestern United States
| thesis_url = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38706165
| thesis_year = 1993
}}{{Scholia}}
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.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4780031689|title=Rónadh Cox|language=English|oclc=4780031689}} She says she became interested in geology as a teenager, because her geography teacher "delighted in the natural world,".{{Cite web|last=silicon|date=2019-07-17|title='It was incredible to see the scale of change and the sheer power of the ocean'|url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/ronadh-cox-williams-college-geology|access-date=2021-01-06|website=Silicon Republic|language=en}} 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.
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.{{Cite web|title=UCD School of Earth Sciences {{!}} Our People - Faculty|url=https://www.ucd.ie/earthsciences/about/ourpeople-faculty/|access-date=2022-12-03|website=www.ucd.ie}}
Cox's research considers how storm waves move boulders. 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.{{Cite web|author=GEOCOAST|date=31 October 2019|title=The Biggest Coastal Boulders in the World Moved by Waves are on the West Coast of Ireland|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmIVERCA7-A|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2022-02-03|website=www.youtube.com}} 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.{{Cite journal|last=Cox|first=Rónadh|date=2020|title=Megagravel deposits on the west coast of Ireland show the impacts of severe storms|url=https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wea.3677|journal=Weather|volume=75|issue=3|pages=72–77|doi=10.1002/wea.3677|bibcode=2020Wthr...75...72C |s2cid=214082404 |issn=1477-8696}}{{Cite news|last=O'Connell|first=Claire|title=The record-breaking power of storm waves at Aran|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/the-record-breaking-power-of-storm-waves-at-aran-1.4192646|access-date=2021-01-06|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Mooney|first=Chris|title=Storm waves moved this 620-ton boulder, scientists say — a stunning testament to the ocean's power|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/01/23/storm-waves-moved-this-620-ton-boulder-researchers-say-a-stunning-new-testament-to-the-oceans-power/|access-date=2021-01-08|issn=0190-8286}} Her team also demonstrated formation of new boulders quarried from bedrock by wave action, well above sea level. In 2020, she was awarded a new grant from the National Science Foundation to study the dynamic evolution of boulder beaches.{{Cite web|title=Williams Geosciences Professor Awarded NSF Grant to Study Boulder Beach Response to Storms / Williamstown.com|url=http://williamstown.com/story/62573/Williams-Geosciences-Professor-Awarded-NSF-Grant-to-Study-Boulder-Beach-Response-to-Storms.html|access-date=2021-01-06|website=williamstown.com}}
From 2012 to 2016, Cox served as editor of the journal Geology, and went on to serve on the editorial board.{{Cite web|title=GSA Distinguished Service Award - 2020|url=https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/GSA/Awards/2020/dsa.aspx|access-date=2021-01-06|website=www.geosociety.org}}
Awards and honours
- 2013 Elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America{{Cite web|title=Awards and Fellowships|url=https://geosciences.williams.edu/faculty-staff/awards-and-fellowships/|access-date=2021-01-06|website=Geosciences|language=en-US}}
- 2020 Appointed Fellow of Future Earth Coasts{{Cite web|title=FEC Fellows|url=https://www.futureearthcoasts.org/fellows/|access-date=2021-01-06|website=Future Earth Coasts|language=en-GB}}
- 2020 EU Atlantic Strategy Atlantic Project Award{{Cite web|last=Williams College|date=30 November 2020|title=Congratulations to Professor @Ronadh_Cox, whose research project was awarded the 2020 Atlantic Project Award|url=https://twitter.com/WilliamsCollege/status/1333505517617025024|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Twitter}}
- 2020 Distinguished Service Award of the Geological Society of America{{Cite web|title=About GSA Awards|url=https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/About_Awards/GSA/Awards/About_GSA_Awards.aspx|access-date=2021-01-06|website=www.geosociety.org}}
- 2021 Elected to the Royal Irish Academy{{Cite web |date=2022-01-11 |title=Rónadh Cox |url=https://www.ria.ie/ronadh-cox |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=Royal Irish Academy |language=en}}
- 2022 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science{{Cite web |title=2022 AAAS Fellows {{!}} American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |url=https://www.aaas.org/page/2022-fellows-0 |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=www.aaas.org |language=en}}
Selected publications
- {{Cite journal|last1=Cox|first1=Rónadh|last2=Lowe|first2=Donald R.|last3=Cullers|first3=R. L.|date=1995-07-01|title=The influence of sediment recycling and basement composition on evolution of mudrock chemistry in the southwestern United States|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2F0016-7037%2895%2900185-9|journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta|language=en|volume=59|issue=14|pages=2919–2940|doi=10.1016/0016-7037(95)00185-9|bibcode=1995GeCoA..59.2919C |issn=0016-7037}}
- {{Cite journal|last=Ronadh Cox (1), Donald R. Lowe (2)|date=1995|title=A Conceptual Review of Regional-Scale Controls on the Composition of Clastic Sediment and the Co-Evolution of Continental Blocks and their Sedimentary Cover|url=https://doi.org/10.1306/D4268009-2B26-11D7-8648000102C1865D|journal=SEPM Journal of Sedimentary Research|volume= 65A|doi=10.1306/d4268009-2b26-11d7-8648000102c1865d|issn=1527-1404}}
- {{Cite journal|last1=Cox|first1=Rónadh|last2=Armstrong|first2=Richard A.|last3=Ashwal|first3=Lewis D.|date=1998-11-01|title=Sedimentology, geochronology and provenance of the Proterozoic Itremo Group, central Madagascar, and implications for pre-Gondwana palaeogeography|url=https://jgs.lyellcollection.org/content/155/6/1009|journal=Journal of the Geological Society|language=en|volume=155|issue=6|pages=1009–1024|doi=10.1144/gsjgs.155.6.1009|bibcode=1998JGSoc.155.1009C |s2cid=128493704|issn=0016-7649}}
- {{Cite journal|last1=Cox|first1=Rónadh|last2=Jahn|first2=Kalle|last3=Watkins|first3=Oona|date=2018|title=Extraordinary boulder transport by storm waves (west of Ireland, winter 2013-2014) and criteria for analysing coastal boulder deposits|journal=Earth-Science Reviews|language=en|volume=177|pages=623–636|doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.12.014|issn=|first4=Cox|last4=Peter|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018ESRv..177..623C }}
Personal life
Whilst a doctoral student in California, Cox met her husband, Mark Brandriss.
References
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Category:20th-century Irish geologists
Category:Fellows of the Geological Society of America
Category:Williams College faculty
Category:Alumni of University College Dublin
Category:Irish women geologists
Category:21st-century Irish geologists
Category:Members of the Royal Irish Academy
Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science