Position: Emeritus Professor, Science and Engineering, University of Waikato
Field: Geochemistry – mineralogy and chemistry of rocks
Professor Richard Price is a very Australasian research scientist. He first studied at the Australian National University in Canberra and then gained his PhD from Otago University. Before coming to work at the University of Waikato, he was on the staff at La Trobe University in Melbourne.
Richard’s research involves the study of volcanoes and their products, granites and related rocks and the tectonic history and magmatic systems of the south-west margin of the Pacific plate.
His particular interest is in studying the mineralogy and chemistry of rocks derived from magmas, and he uses this information to determine how magmas are generated and how they evolve as they migrate from their mantle and crustal sources to the Earth’s surface.
Richard is an authority on the geochemistry and the origins of andesite rocks from Ruapehu and Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand. This research is a collaborative effort with colleagues from University College Cork in Ireland, Melbourne and Macquarie Universities in Australia, and Massey and Auckland Universities. The objectives of the study are to understand how andesite magmas are generated, evolve and erupt and the timescales of the magmatic and volcanic processes involved.
This article is based on information current in 2010 and in 2018.
