Tamsin Mather is Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford. Having completed a degree in Chemistry, she has spent over 20 years researching volcanoes. She has worked in places including Hawaii, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Chile, Italy and Iceland. Her research aims to improve predictions of eruptions and their hazards, explore how volcanoes can be used for power and resources, and understand how they affect the Earth’s environment. Choosing a favourite volcano is difficult, but Mount Etna in Sicily and Villarrica in Chile are among her top picks.

David Pyle is Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford and was previously a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. He saw his first volcano in Chile at the age of seven and later studied geology at university. The first volcano he visited for research was Santorini in Greece, and since then he has visited, climbed or studied volcanoes on six continents. He mainly works on geologically young or active volcanoes and has witnessed plenty of flowing lava, fumes and ash.