Projects

This project investigates how urban expansion is changing the exposure of populations and infrastructure to volcanic hazards over time. By combining global datasets on cities, population growth, and volcanic activity, it identifies emerging exposure hotspots and long-term trends in exposure.

This work is carried out in collaboration with Natalie Teng at the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS), and other collaborators. This is partly funded by the EOS InVEST project. 

Key outputs:

• Meredith, E.S., Teng, R.X.N., Jenkins, S.F., Tennant, E.M., Hayes, J.L., and Biass, S. (2026) Global urban exposure near volcanoes is increasing: A spatio-temporal analysis from 1975 to 2030. npj Natural Hazards

• Meredith, E.S., Teng, R.X.N., Jenkins, S.F., Hayes, J.L., Biass, S., and Handley, H. (2025). Cities near volcanoes: Which cities are most exposed to volcanic hazards? Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences.

• When Cities Meet Volcanoes: The World’s Most Exposed Urban Populations. Blog post, Earth Observatory of Singapore (Oct 2025)

• Meredith, E. S., Teng, R. X. N., Jenkins, S. F., Hayes, J. L., Biass, S., Tennant, E., & Handley, H. (2025, April). Global trends of city exposure to volcanic hazards. In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts (pp. EGU25-6959).

This project examines how populations and infrastructure are exposed to multiple interacting natural hazards across different spatial scales. By integrating global datasets and spatial analysis, it identifies regions where overlapping hazards may amplify risk and lead to amplified impacts. 

I lead this work as Principal Investigator in collaboration with Marleen de Ruiter at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This is funded by the VU-UT Alliance.

Key outputs:

• Meredith, E. S., & de Ruiter, M. C. (2026). Volcanic eruptions in a multi-hazard world: a global assessment of past volcanic multi-hazard events (No. EGU26-3081). Copernicus Meetings.

• Vulnerability and Exposure to Volcanic Eruptions. Invited lecture, Multi-risk Field Course, VU Amsterdam (March 2026)

• Meredith and de Ruiter, (in prep).

This project examines how lava flows affect the built environment, using empirical data from past eruptions to understand patterns of damage. It involves developing datasets and models to quantify building vulnerability and forecast potential impacts of future events. 

This work was developed as part of my PhD at Nanyang Technological University, in collaboration with partners including the USGS, IGN Spain, and GNS Science.

Key outputs:

• Meredith, E.S., Jenkins, S.F., Hayes, J.L., Chee, D.J.H., Lallemant, D., Deligne, N.I., Meletlidis, S., and Felpeto, A. (2025). Developing empirical fragility functions for lava flow building damage. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

• Meredith, E.S., Jenkins, S.F., Hayes, J.L., Lallemant, D., and Deligne, N.I. (2024). Lava flow impacts on the built environment: Insights from a new global dataset. Journal of Applied Volcanology.

• Meredith, E.S. (2023). Analysis of lava flow impacts for use in risk assessments.

• Meredith, E.S., Jenkins, S.F., Hayes, J.L., Deligne, N.I., Lallemant, D., Patrick, M., and Neal, C. (2022). Damage assessment for the 2018 lower East Rift Zone lava flows of Kīlauea volcano, Hawai‘i. Bulletin of Volcanology.

• Meredith, E., Jenkins, S., Hayes, J., Lallemant, D., Deligne, N., & Teng, R. X. N. (2023, May). Assessing global trends in lava flow impact events. In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts (pp. EGU-13548).

• Meredith, E., Jenkins, S., Hayes, J., & Teng, R. X. N. (2021, December). Past Records of Lava Flow Impacts for Use in Risk Assessments. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2021, pp. NH25A-0538).

• Meredith, E., Jenkins, S., Lallemant, D., Deligne, N. I., Patrick, M. R., Hayes, J., & Neal, C. A. (2020, December). Lava flow damage assessment using remote sensing and ground surveys: 2018 LERZ lava flows of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 2020, pp. V006-05).

This research focuses on assessing the potential impacts of rare but catastrophic volcanic eruptions. By analysing global exposure and developing scenario-based approaches, the project explores how such events could affect populations, infrastructure, and interconnected systems at regional to global scales. 

I lead this project as Principal Investigator, developing approaches to better account for extreme events in risk assessments and support preparedness. 

Key outputs:

• Meredith, E.S., Handley, H.K., Jenkins, S.F., Chim, M.M., and Gregg, C. (2026). Exposure to high-impact, low-probability explosive volcanic eruptions. Anthropocene

• Gregg, C.E., Meredith, E.S., Black, B., Mani, L., Manning, T., Romerio, F., Thordarson, T., and Self, S. Impact from low-frequency, high-impact events. In: Encyclopedia of Volcanoes (3rd Edition) (forthcoming)

• Where Should we Expect Highest Impact at Future Volcanic Eruptions? Seminar, ITC Faculty Lunch Talks, University of Twente (Oct 2024)

I am interested in analysing the global distribution of volcanological knowledge, including what we know about volcanic impacts, where knowledge is produced, and the factors that shape research attention towards themes and volcanoes. I use web scraping, bibliometric metadata, and the development of global datasets to identify gaps in volcanological knowledge. 

I am also interested in ethical and inclusive research practices, such as responsible approaches to fieldwork and data collection with scientists and communities in volcanic regions. This work is in collaboration with the Earth Observatory of Singapore and IPGP, France.

Key outputs:

• Lerner, G.A., Williams, G.T., Meredith, E.S., Jenkins, S.F. and Barclay, J., 2023. How inclusive is volcanology? Insights from global bibliometric analyses. Volcanica, 6(1), pp.77-94.

• Ethical Communication in Disaster Settings Seminar, UT Science Communication Club (March 2026)

• Benet al., (in prep)