Heather Handley

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Heather Handley is a volcanologist and geoscience communicator. She is Senior Curator of Geoscience at Museums Victoria Research Institute and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University. Heather holds a PhD in Volcano Geochemistry from Durham University, UK and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Geology from The University of Edinburgh, UK. In 2012, Heather was awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to advance our understanding of the timescales of Earth-system process.

Heather has received several awards including an AIPS NSW Young Tall Poppy Award in 2014, the 2021 Geological Society of Australia (GSA) Beryl Nashar Award, the 2025 European Geosciences Union Katia and Maurice Krafft Award and was a Science and Technology Superstar of STEM 2021-2022. Heather frequently writes for The Conversation, has given over 100 television, radio and print interviews and she has featured in documentaries for National Geographic and Discovery Channel Science. Heather was Governing Councillor of the GSA 2020-2022. She is Co-Founder and Director of the Earth Futures Festival and Co-Founder and inaugural President of the Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences Australasia Network (WOMEESA). Heather is Co-chair of the IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Geoheritage and Protected Volcanic Landscapes.

Experience

  • 2021–present
    Adjunct Associate Professor, Monash University
  • 2025–present
    Senior Curator, Geosciences, Museums Victoria Research Institute
  • 2022–2025
    Associate Professor, University of Twente
  • 2018–2021
    Associate Professor, Macquarie University
  • 2012–2018
    Senior Lecturer and ARC Future Fellow, Macquarie University
  • 2009–2012
    Postdoctoral research fellow, Macquarie University
  • 2007–2008
    Postdoctoral research fellow, Macquarie University

Education

  • 2006 
    Durham University, PhD Volcanology and Geochemistry
  • 2001 
    Edinburgh University, BSc Honours (1st Class) Geology

Contact Heather for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision