3S member Martin Mahony is a co-investigator on a new NERC/AHRC project called ‘Curating Crises: the past as a key to improving the stewardship of hazard knowledges for the future’ (Lead Investigator: Prof Jenni Barclay, UEA).

The project will examine the history of volcanic events in the Eastern Caribbean over the course of the 20^th century, and explore how the making of scientific observations, theories and predictions was shaped by colonial power relationships. The team will examine the long history of ‘parachute science’ – scientists from overseas dropping-in at moments of crisis, and taking away their observations, artefacts, findings and lessons for use elsewhere. The project will seek to redress some of these historical wrongs by identifying new archival materials and making them available for affected communities, as well as offering insights into how rapid-response environmental science can be made more equitable in the future.

The project is being conducted in partnership with Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies, the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, The Royal Society and the University of Oxford. The project is one of ten funded under the AHRC/NERC ‘Hidden Histories’ programme”