Dr Ben Williamson

Lecturer in Applied Mineralogy

Contact details
Email: b.j.williamson@ex.ac.uk

Biography

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
BSc (Hons) Geology, 1988
PhD Geology (Granite petrology), 1991
(University of London)

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Member of the Mineralogical Society
Member of the Mineral Deposits Studies Group
Expert Member of the International Volcanic Health Hazards Network

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
2007 Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
Lecturer (CSM)
2004 - 2007 The Natural History Museum, London
Electron Microscopist/Researcher in the Electron Microscopy and Mineral Analysis Division.
2000 - 2004 The Natural History Museum, London
Head of Environmental Assessment Programme of the EU INCO-Copernicus 2 MinUrals Contract.
1998 - 2000 University of Bristol
Scientific Coordinator of the European Union Geochemical Facility.
1994 - 1998 The Natural History Museum, London
Researcher/IT Manager for the Department of Mineralogy.
1991 - 1993 Geoservices, for Amoco (Mauritania), Hunt (Yemen) and Agip/Elf (Congo).

RESEARCH
Granite petrogenesis and magmatic-hydrothermal mineralisation; mechanisms of toxicity of airborne particulate, health effects of volcanic ash and biogenic silicas, development of novel instrumental and biomonitoring methodologies.

Research area webpages
Applied Geology and Mineralogy

Recent research projects (2001 to date)

• Cristobalite in dome rock from the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat: implications for respiratory health hazards.
• Production of deleterious respirable silica airborne particulate from the burning of siliceous biomass (Cambridge University - NHM Case studentship).
• Discriminating bacterial from electrochemical corrosion using Fe isotopes (NHM-MRF).
• MinUrals: Mineral resources of the Urals: origin, development and environmental impacts (external web link)
• Quantitative biomonitoring methodologies for surface waters in areas of base metal mining and minerals processing in Sweden (European Commission GeoRange grant).

Recent publications (2001 to date)
Williamson B.J., Purvis O.W., Mikhailova I.N., Spiro B. and Udachin V., in press. The lichen transplant methodology in the source apportionment of metal deposition around a copper smelter in the former mining town of Karabash, Russia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

Hutchens E., Williamson B.J., Anand M., Ryan M.P. and Herrington R.J., 2007. Discriminating bacterial from electrochemical corrosion using Fe isotopes. Corrosion.Corrosion Science: 3759–3764.

Purvis O.W., Longden J., Shaw G., Chimonides P.D.J., Jeffries T.E., Jones G.C., Mikhailova I.N. and Williamson B.J., 2006. Biogeochemical signatures in the lichen Hypogymnia physodes in the mid Urals. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 90: 151-162.

Brooks S. J., Udachin V. and Williamson B.J., 2005. Impact of copper smelting on lakes in the southern Ural Mountains, Russia, inferred from chironomids. Journal of Paleolimnology, 33:229-241.

Mueller A., Williamson B. J. and Smith M., 2005. Origin of quartz cores in tourmaline from Roche Rock, SW England. Mineralogical Magazine, 69: 381-401.

Udachin V. N., Williamson B. J. and Rykov S. P., 2005. Phase composition and sequential extraction of dusts from smelters in the southern Urals. The Mineralogy of Technogenesis, Scientific editions. Miass: Institute of Mineralogy, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences: 97-105.

Clarke D. B., Dorais M., Barbarin B., Barker D., Cesare B., Clarke G., El Baghdadi M., Erdmann S., Förster H-J, Gaeta M., Gottesmann B., Jamieson R. A., Kontak D. J., Koller F., Leal Gomes C., London D., Morgan VI G. B., Neves L.J.P.F., Pattison D. R. M., Pereira A. J. S. C., Pichavant M, Rapela C. W., Renno A. D., Richards S., Roberts M. Rottura A., Saavedra J., Nobrega Sial A., Toselli A. J., Ugidos J. M., Uher P., Villaseca C., Visona D., Whitney D. L., Williamson B. and Woodard H.H., 2004. Occurrence and origin of andalusite in peraluminous felsic igneous rocks. Journal of Petrology, 46: 441 - 472.

Purvis, O.W., Bailey, E.H., McLean, J., Kasama, T. and Williamson, B.J., 2004. Uranium biosorption by the lichen Trapelia involuta at a uranium mine. Geomicrobiology, 21: 159-167.

Purvis O. W., Chimonides P. J., Jones G. C., Mikhailova I. N., Spiro B., Weiss D. and Williamson B. J., 2004. Lichen biomonitoring near Karabash Smelter Town, Ural Mountains, Russia, one of the most polluted areas in the world. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 271: 221-226.

Spiro B., Weiss D.J., Purvis O.W., Mikhailova I., Williamson B. J., Coles, B.J. and Udachin V., 2004. Lead isotopes in lichen transplants around a Cu smelter in Russia determined by MC-ICP-MS reveal transient records of multiple sources. Environmental Science and Technology, 38: 6522-6528.

Williamson B.J., Mikhailova I., Purvis O.W. and Udachin V., 2004. SEM-EDX analysis in the source apportionment of particulate matter on Hypogymnia physodes lichen transplants around the Cu smelter and former mining town of Karabash, South Urals, Russia. The Science of the Total Environment, 332: 139-154.

Williamson B.J., Udachin V., Purvis O.W., Spiro B., Cressey G. and Jones G.C., 2004. Characterisation of airborne particulates in the Cu smelter and former mining town of Karabash, South Ural Mountains of Russia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 98: 235-259.

Herrington R.J., Williamson B., Udachin V. and Spiro B, 2003. MinUrals: Mineral resources of the Urals - Origin, development and environmental impacts. Pp 39-43. In: Akhmedov N A (ed) 2003. Problems of ore deposits and maximizing the prospecting efficiency. Proceedings of International Scientific-Technical Conference in Tashkent, 21-24 October 2003. Publ. IMR: 470pp.

Horwell C. J., Sparks R. S. J., Brewer T. S., Llewellin E. W. and Williamson B. J., 2003. Characterisation of respirable volcanic ash from the Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, with implications for health hazards. Bulletin of Volcanology, 65: 346-362.

Leistel J.M., Augé T., Bourgeois B., Bretteville V., Coste B., Lerouge C., Orgeval J.J., Koroteev V., Ivanov K.S., Sazonov V.N., Maslennikov V., Zaykov V., Telenkov O., Udachin V., Tesalina S., Belenki A., Williamson B., Herrington R., Spiro B., Purvis O.W., Dubbin W., Brooks S., Buschmann B., Bourdon B., Omenetto P., 2003. MinUrals: Mineral resources of the Urals - Origin, development and environmental impacts, In: Eliopoulos D G et al. (eds.) Mineral Exploration and Sustainable Development. Proceedings 7th Biennial SGA Meeting, Athens, 24-28 August 2003. Millpress Rotterdam, 2003 Millpress ISBN 90 77017 77 1 p. 37-40.

Purvis O.W., Bailey E.H., McLean J., Kasama T. and Williamson B.J., 2003. Uranium biosorption by the lichen Trapelia involuta at a uranium mine. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 67: A385-A385.

Udachin V., Williamson B. J., Purvis O. W., Spiro B., Dubbin W., Brooks S., Coste B., Herrington R. J., Mikhailova I., 2003. Assessment of environmental impacts of active smelter operations and abandoned mines in Karabash, Ural Mountains of Russia. Sustainable Development, 11: 1-10.

Williamson B., Entwistle J. and Hudson-Edwards K., 2003. Mineral particles and the environment: Introduction. Mineralogical Magazine, 67: 127.

Williamson B.J., Har N., Purvis O.W. and Rusu A-M., 2003. Preliminary studies of airborne particulate emissions from the Ampellum S.A. copper smelter, Zlatna, Romania. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, XLVIII, 1: 67-76.

Purvis O.W., Erotokritou L., Wolseley P. A., Williamson B. J. and Read H., 2002. A photographic quadrat recording method employing image analysis of lichens as an indicator of environmental change. In: Nimis P. L., Scheidegger C. and Wolseley P. A. (Eds.), Monitoring with Lichens - Monitoring Lichens, 337-341. Kluwer, Netherlands.

Udachin V., Kitagawa R., Williamson B. and Sugakhara T., 2002. Ores and metallurgical slags from the Karabash deposit (the South Urals) and Ashio Japan: composition and potential influence on the environment. In: The Metallogeny of Ancient and Modern Oceans – 2002 (Eds. V. Zaykov, E. Belogub) Miass: Inst. Mineral., Urals Branch of RAS, p. 267-275 (in Russian).

Williamson B. J., Wilkinson J. J., Luckham P. F. and Stanley C. J., 2002. Formation of coagulated colloidal silica in high temperature mineralising fluids. Mineralogical Magazine, 66: 547-553.

Jones T. P., Williamson B. J., BéruBé K. A. and Richards R. J., 2001. Microscopy and chemistry of particles collected on TEOM filters: Swansea, south Wales, 1998-1999. Atmospheric Environment, 35: 3573-3583.

Williamson B. J., 2001. Mineralogical composition of atmospheric airborne particulates. Geology Today, 17: 32-35.

Williamson B. J. and Croft S., 2001. Particulate analysis for environmental monitoring. Microscopy Today 6: 42-43.

Williamson B. J., Pastiroff S. and Cressey G., 2001. Piezoelectric properties of quartz and cristobalite airborne particulates as a cause of adverse health effects. Atmospheric Environment, 35: 3539-3542.

TEACHING

Undergraduate modules:

CSM 1285 Introduction to Geology
CSM 2312 Igneous & Metamorphic Petrology
CSM 3315 Mineral Deposit Geology

ADMINISTRATION

Deputy Programme Director for Undergraduate Geology programmes

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