Visiting Researchers

Damon Teagle is Director of the University of Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) and Professor of Geochemistry in the School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton.  He is an Earth scientist principally interested in fluid-rock interactions in a variety of tectonic settings including mountain belts and mid-ocean ridges and their impact on global chemical cycles and held a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award from 2014-2018.  Much of his work involves scientific ocean drilling and he has served as Co-Chief Scientist on 4 expeditions (ODP Leg 206, IODP 309/312, 335, 390/393) including the recent South Atlantic Transect (Apl-Aug, 2021) to study the aging of slow spreading ocean crust.  Other recent research investigates serpentinization in the Troodos and Semail ophiolite (as part of the Oman Drilling Project of which he was Co-PI), and atmospheric CO2 reduction through the enhanced weathering of mine tailings.  His New Zealand geological research includes the initial structural studies of the Hyde-Macraes shear-zone, the sourcing of gold in metamorphic deposits, and fluid and heat budgets along the Alpine Fault.  

The SMMI is a pan-University of Southampton inter-disciplinary institute that pulls together the University of Southampton’s distinctive strengths in ocean-facing research, education and knowledge exchange including marine science, oceanography and climate change, naval architecture, maritime, offshore and coastal engineering, materials and energy systems, archaeology,  maritime law, politics and business, medicine and human health, as well as the arts, humanities and music. Major research themes include the decarbonisation and optimisation of maritime trade, ports and logistic networks, autonomous and robotic observations and monitoring of the natural and built environments and associated data analytics, air pollution, coastal societies, the responsible use of future oceans and the just transition to a decarbonised, zero-pollution world. 

Rachael James is Professor of Geochemistry and until recently Deputy Head of School (Research and Enterprise) in the School of Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton, UK. She obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Oceanography and Chemistry from the University of Southampton and a PhD from the University of Cambridge (Earth Science). After 8 years at the Open University as Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in Oceanography, she returned to Southampton in 2008 as Principal Geochemist at the National Oceanography Centre before joining the University in 2013.

Rachael’s expertise lies in the development and application of novel chemical and isotopic techniques to improve understanding of ocean and Earth (and extra-terrestrial) processes and to address critical environmental and societal challenges.  A key current focus is on the development of methodologies for removing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. Rachael is conducting field trials on CO₂ removal by enhanced rock weathering and mineral carbonation, and she is developing methodologies for monitoring and verification of potential leakage from sub-seafloor CO₂ storage sites. Rachael is also using novel isotopic tracers, including iron, chromium and lithium, to locate new sources of metals and elements that are critical for supporting the transition to green technologies.

Rachael is an Associate Editor for Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta and sits of the scientific advisory councils of the Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, the UK CLASS programme and the German CDRMare Program. She was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2006, EAG Distinguished Lecturer in 2014 and gave the annual Marie Tharp Lecture at GEOMAR in Germany in 2022.