Dr Frances Beckett
Frances leads the Volcanic and Chemical team in the Atmospheric Dispersion and Air Quality group.
Areas of expertise
Frances' areas of expertise include:
- Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling
- Volcanic Clouds
- Pulling science through to services
- Application to Emergency Response
Publications by Frances Beckett
Current activities
Frances is the scientific manager of the Volcanic and Chemical team in the Atmospheric Dispersion and Air Quality Group. The team conduct research in the field of atmospheric transport and dispersion, with a focus on the development and use of NAME for emergency response incidents, including simulating plumes from industrial fires, chemical releases, and volcanic clouds. The team also maintain and develop the operational systems for the London VAAC and CHEMET service, pulling science through to operations.
Frances’ previous research has focused on modelling the transport and dispersion of volcanic clouds, with topics on eruption source parameters, sedimentation of volcanic ash, aggregation and resuspension.
Career background
Frances has worked in the Atmospheric Dispersion and Air Quality Group since joining the Met Office in 2012. Prior to this Frances completed a PhD in Physical Volcanology at the University of Bristol on buoyancy driven flow and implications for degassing processes at basaltic volcanoes. Frances has an MSci in Environmental Geoscience from the University of Bristol.