Professor Simon Redfern

College Positions Emeritus Fellow

Simon Redfern is currently the Dean of the College of Science and President’s Chair in Earth Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He was previously the Professor of Mineral Physics and Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Academic interests

Simon Redfern's academic interests include:

Physics and Chemistry of planetary materials at extreme temperatures and pressures
Finding sustainable solutions to global environmental change
Applications of Artificial Intelligence to the study of environmental risk.

Degrees obtained

MA, Cantab.
PhD, Cantab.

Biography

Before coming to Cambridge, Simon was Lecturer in Geochemical Spectroscopy in the Departments of Geology and Chemistry at the University of Manchester. He was the founding Chair of the NERC Cambridge Earth System Science Doctoral Training Partnership (Graduate School) and of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Applications of AI to the Study of Environmental Risk. He served as a Director of Studies at Jesus College.

Simon’s research interests focus on the physical and chemical properties of minerals and associated fluids in planetary interiors. He uses experimental and computational methods to understand the role of minerals in Earth and planetary processes at extreme pressures and temperatures.

Simon has served as a member of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, providing independent scrutiny and advice to the UK governments on the long term management of higher activity radioactive wastes. He also served as a British Science Association Science Media Fellow at the BBC, experiencing the mechanisms by which scientific discovery and journalistic exposition interact, both in written and broadcast media. He's keen to help in efforts to make scientific methods and processes, as well as discoveries, accessible to a wide audience.