I have been a Senior Lecturer in the Open University Department of Earth Sciences since 1994, and before that was a Lecturer here. During 1999-2004 I was Director of Teaching and Geosciences Programme Director. I have also been Leader of the IAVCEI Commission on Remote Sensing, and in 2005 I was appointed to the PPARC Solar System Advisory Panel and the BepiColombo Oversight Committee.

In May 2006 I was appointed UK Lead Scientist on MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer), which is the only UK Principal Investigator instrument on BepiColombo, the European Space Agency mission to Mercury to be launched in 2014. I chair ESA's Mercury Surface and Composition Working Group. I am also a member of the Science Advisory Panel for C1XS , the X-ray spectrometer on Chandrayaan-1 (launched 22 Oct 2008).
In 2006-7 I served on the ESSC/ESF Ad Hoc Group on Definition of a science-driven European scenario for space exploration.

My research interests centre on the study of volcanic activity by means of remote sensing, and volcanology and geoscience in general on other planets.

Currently I am an 'expert' contributing to the BBC-Open University co-produced science series Bang Goes the Theory (see hotlink below).
I have been the Academic Consultant on various other Open University broadcast projects, notably Journeys from the Centre of the Earth, Stardate, and Beginners' Guide to the Cosmos - on some of which I also appeared.
I have also appeared on BBC TV and radio news, ITN, Channel 4 news, Sky TV News, Al Jazeera English News, The South Bank Show, and various BBC Radio 4, 5 and World Service science magazine programmes, usually in connection with planetary science, volcanoes or earthquakes.
I have also been a guest several times on The Sky at Night.
Click on the picture for a different view. (Scroll to top of this page and click on 'Misc Pictures' for more - the system will only let me put one picture into the current window.)

Bang Goes the Theory website

Rothery, D. A., 1992 (1st edition), 1999 (2nd edition), Satellites of the Outer Planets:- worlds in their own right, Oxford University Press, New York.
Rothery, D. A., 1997, 2003, 2008 Geology, Teach Yourself Series, Hodder & Stoughton Educational
Rothery, D. A., 2010, Geology: the Key Ideas (Teach Yourself) , Hodder Education
Rothery, D. A., 2000, 2003, Planets, Teach Yourself Series, Hodder & Stoughton Educational
Rothery, D. A., 2001, 2003, Volcanoes, Teach Yourself Series, Hodder & Stoughton Educational
Rothery, D. A., 2007, 2010 Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis, Teach Yourself Series, Hodder & Stoughton Educational
Rothery, D. A., 2010, Planets: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press
Coe, A. L., Argles, T. W., Rothery, D. A., and Spicer, R. A., 2010, Geological Field Techniques, Wiley-Blackwell
Rothery, D.A., McBride, N. and Gilmour, I., 2011, An Introduction to the Solar System, Revised edition, Cambridge University Press
Rothery, D.A., Gilmour, I. and Sephton, M., 2011, An Introduction to Astrobiology, Revised edition, Cambridge University Press

The Open University has a level 2 module in planetary science, which I chair. This is:
S283 Planetary Science and the Search for Life (about 300 hours study at level 2). See http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01S283
I also chair S186 Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis (about 100 hours of study at level 1). See http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01S186

Here is a list of peer-reviewed publications (comprehensive from 2000, plus previous highlights):

Rothery, D. A. 1983. The base of a sheeted dyke complex, Oman ophiolite: implications for magma chambers at oceanic spreading axes J. geol. Soc. Lond., 140 287-296.
Rothery, D. A. and Drury, S. A. 1984. The neotectonics of the Tibetan plateau, Tectonics 3, 19-26.
Rothery, D. A. and Lefebvre, R. H. 1985. The causes of age dependant changes in the spectral response of lavas, craters of the moon, Idaho, USA International Journal of Remote Sensing, 6, 1483-1489.
Francis, P. W., Rothery, D. A., Gardeweg, M. and Ramirez, C. F. 1985. The Socompa volcano, North Chile, and its debris-avalanche deposits Geology, 13, 600-603.
Francis, P. W. and Rothery, D. A. 1987. Using the Landsat Thematic Mapper to detect and monitor active volcanoes: An example from northern Chile, Geology, 15, 614-617.
Abrams, M. J., Rothery, D. A. and Pontual, A. 1988. Mapping in the Oman ophiolite using enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper images, Tectonophysics, 151, 387-402.
Rothery, D. A., Francis, P.W. and Wood, C.A. 1988a. Volcano monitoring using short wavelength infrared data from satellites, J.Geophysical Research, 93, 7993-8008.
Glaze, L. S., Francis, P. W. and Rothery, D. A., 1989, Measuring thermal budgets of active volcanoes by satellite remote sensing, Nature, 338, 144-146.
Glaze, L. S., Francis, P. W., Self, S. and Rothery, D. A., 1989, The Lascar September 16th , 1986, eruption: satellite investigations, Bulletin of Volcanology, 51, 149-160.
Rothery, D. A., 1989, A re-interpretation of Landsat TM data on Chernobyl, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 10, 1423-1427.
Rothery, D. A. and Hunt, G. A., 1990, A simple way to perform decorrelation stretching and related techniques on menu-driven image processing systems, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 11, 133-137.
Oppenheimer, C & Rothery, D A, 1991, Infrared monitoring of volcanoes by satellite, J. geol. Soc. Lond., 148, 563-569.
Thornhill, G. D., Rothery, D. A., Murray, J. B., Cook, A. C., Day, T., Muller, J.-P., and Illife, J. C., 1993, Topography of Apollinaris Patera and Ma'adim Vallis - automated extraction of digital elevation models, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 23581-23587.
Murray, J. B., Rothery, D. A., Thornhill, G. D., Muller, J.-P., Cook, A. C., Day, T., and Illife, J. C., 1994, The origin of Phobos' grooves and crater chains, Planetary & Space Science, 42, 519-526.
Rothery, D. A., Babbs, T. L., Harris, A. J. L., and Wooster, M. J., 1996, Colored lava flows on the Earth: a warning to Io volcanologists, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 26131-6.
Harris, A. J. L., Blake, S., Rothery, D. A. and Stevens, N. F., 1997, A chronology of the 1991 to 1993 Etna eruption using AVHRR data: implications for real time thermal volcano monitoring, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 7985-8003.
Wooster, M. J. and Rothery, D. A., 1997, Thermal monitoring of Lascar Volcano, Northern Chile, using infrared data from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer, Bulletin of Volcanology, 58, 566-79.
Grady, M. M., Hutchison, R., McCall, G. J. H., and Rothery, D. A. (eds), 1998, Meteorites: Flux with time and impact effects. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 140.
Harris, A. J. L., Flynn, L. P., Rothery, D. A., Oppenheimer, C., and Sherman, S. B., 1999, Mass flux measurements at active lava lakes: implications for magma recycling, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 7117-36.
Francis, P. W. and Rothery, D. A., 2000, Remote sensing of active volcanoes, Ann. Rev. Earth & Planetary Sciences 28, 81-106.
Andrew J. L. Harris, Luke P. Flynn, Ken Dean, Eric Pilger, Martin Wooster, Chris Okubo, Peter Mouginis-Mark, Harold Garbeil, Carl Thornber, Servando De la Cruz-Reyna, Dave Rothery, & Robert Wright, 2000, Real-time Satellite Monitoring of Volcanic Hot Spots, in Remote Sensing of Active Volcanism, Peter J. Mouginis-Mark, Joy A. Crisp, and Jonathan H. Fink (eds), AGU Geophysical Monograph Series, Vol. 116, 139-59.
Luke P. Flynn, Andrew J. L. Harris, David A. Rothery, & Clive Oppenheimer, 2000, High-Spatial-Resolution Thermal Remote Sensing of Active Volcanic Features Using Landsat and Hyperspectral Data, in Remote Sensing of Active Volcanism, Peter J. Mouginis-Mark, Joy A. Crisp, and Jonathan H. Fink (eds), AGU Geophysical Monograph Series, Vol. 116, 161-77.
Harris, AJL, Murray, JB, Aries, SE, Davies, MA, Flynn L, Wooster MJ, Wright, R & Rothery, DA, 2000, Effusion rate trends at Etna & Krafla and their implications for eruptive mechanisms, J. Volc. Geotherm. Res., 102, 237-69.
Wright, R, Rothery, DA, Blake S, & Pieri, DC, 2000, Improved remote sensing estimates of lava flow cooling: a case study of the 1991 to 1993 Mount Etna eruption, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 23681-94.
Wright, R, Rothery, DA, Blake S and Pieri, DC, 2000, Visualising active volcanism with high spatial resolution satellite data: the 1991 to 1993 eruption of Mount Etna, Bull Volc., 62, 256-265.
Aries, SA, Harris, AJL and Rothery, DA, 2001, Remote infrared detection of the cessation of volcanic eruptions, Geophys. Res. Lett. 28, 1803-1806
Rothery, DA, Coltelli, M, Pirie, D, Wooster, MJ, and Wright R, 2001, Documenting surface magmatic activity at Mount Etna using ATSR remote sensing, Bull. Volc., 63, 387-397.
Wright, R., Blake, S, Harris AJL, and Rothery DA, 2001, A simple explanation for the space-based calculation of lava eruption rates, Earth Planet. Sci Letters 192 223-233.
Bridges, J. C.; Seabrook, A. M.; Rothery, D. A.; Kim, J. R.; Pillinger, C. T.; Sims, M. R.; Golombek, M. P.; Duxbury, T.; Head, J. W.; Haldemann, A. F. C.; Mitchell, K. L.; Muller, J.-P.;Lewis, S. R.; Moncrieff, C.; Wright, I. P.; Grady, M. M.; Morley, J. G. 2003 Selection of the landing site in Isidis Planitia of Mars probe Beagle 2. J. Geophys. Res. Vol. 108 No. E1 10.1029/2001JE001820
Rothery, DA, Thorne, MT, Flynn, L, 2003, MODIS thermal alerts in Britain and the North Sea during the first half of 2001, Int. J. Remote Sensing, 24 817-826.
Harris, A, Johnson, J, Horton, K, Garbeil, H, Ramm, H, Pilger, E, Flynn, L, Mouginis-Mark, P, Pirie, D, Donegan, S, Rothery, D, Ripepe, M, Marchetti, E, 2003, Ground-based infrared monitoring provides new tool for remote tracking of volcanic activity, EOS, 84, 409 & 418.
Williams-Jones, G., Rymer, H., and Rothery, D.A., 2003, Gravity changes and passive degassing at the Masaya caldera complex, Nicaragua. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 123(1-2), 137-160.
Seabrook AM, Bridges JC, Rothery DA and Wright IP, 2005, Using MOLA data to investigate the topography of Isidis Planitia, Mars, Society of Cartographers Bulletin, 38, 13-20.
Rothery D, Coppola D, Saunders C, 2005, Analysis of volcanic activity patterns using MODIS thermal alerts, Bulletin of Volcanology, 67, 539-556 DOI: 10.1007/s00445-004-0393-3
Patrick MR, Harris AJL, Ripepe M, Dehn J, Rothery DA, Calvari S, 2007, Strombolian explosive styles and source conditions: insight from thermal (FLIR) video, Bulletin of Volcanology, 69, 769-784 DOI: 10.1007/s00445-006-0107-0
Sumner JM, Rothery DA, Spieler O, Dingwell DB, 2007, Impact vesiculation - a new trigger for volcanic bubblegrowth and degassing, eEarth, 5 Nov 2007, http://www.electronic-earth-discuss.net/2/151/2007/eed-2-151-2007.html
Palma JL, Calder ES, Basualta D, Blake S, Rothery DA, 2008, Correlations between SO2 flux, seismicity, and outgassing activity at the open vent of Villarica volcano, Chile, J. Geophys. Res., 113, B10201, doi: 10.1029/2008JB005577.
Crawford, IA, K.H. Joy, B.J. Kellett, M. Grande, M. Anand, N. Bhandari, A.C. Cook, L. d’Uston, V.A. Fernandes, O. Gasnault, J. Goswami, C.J. Howe, J. Huovelin, D. Koschny, D.J. Lawrence, B.J. Maddison, S. Maurice, S. Narendranath, C. Pieters, T. Okada, D.A. Rothery, S.S. Russell, P. Sreekumar, B. Swinyard, M. Wieczorek, M. Wilding, 2009, The Scientific Rationale for the C1XS X-Ray Spectrometer on India’s Chandrayaan-1 Mission to the Moon, Planetary and Space Sciences, 57, 725-734.
Grande, M., B.J. Maddison, C.J. Howe, B.J. Kellet and 26 others (including D.A. Rothery), 2009, The C1XS X-ray Spectrometer on Chandrayaan-1, Planetary and Space Sciences, 57, 717-724.
A. Smith, I. A. Crawford, R. A. Gowen, A. J. Ball,and 35 others (including D.A. Rothery), 2009, LunarEX — a proposal to cosmic vision, Experimental Astronomy, 23, 711-740 DOI 10.1007/s10686-008-9109-6
Rothery D, Marinangeli L, Anand M, Carpenter J, Christensen U, Crawford IA, De Sanctis MC, Epifani EM, Erard S, Frigeri A, Fraser G, Hauber E, Helbert J, Hiesinger H, Joy K, Milillo A, Mitrofanov I, Muinonen K, Näränen J, Pauselli C, Potts P, Warell J, Wurz P, 2010, Mercury's surface and composition to be studied by BepiColombo, Planetary and Space Sciences, 58, 21-39, 10.1016/j.pss.2008.09.001
Fraser, G, Carpenter J, Rothery D A and 42 others, 2010, The Mercury Imaging Xray Spectrometer (MIXS) on BepiColombo, Planetary and Space Sciences, 58, 79-95
Rothery, D. A., Massironi, M., 2010, Beagle Rupes - Evidence for a basal decollement of regional extent in Mercury's lithosphere, Icarus, 209, 256-261, doi:10.1016/j.icarus2009.12009
Warell, J., Sprague, A., Kozlowski, R., Rothery D. A., Lewis, N., Helbert, J., Cloutis, E., 2010, Constraints on Mercury's surface composition from MESSENGER and ground-based spectroscopy, Icarus 209, 138-163
S. Narendranath, P.S. Athiray, P. Sreekumar, B.J. Kellett, L. Alha, C.J. Howe, K.H. Joy, M. Grande, J. Huovelin, I.A. Crawford, U. Unnikrishnan, S. Lalita, S. Subramaniam, S.Z. Weider, L.R. Nittler, O. Gasnault, D. Rothery, V.A. Fernandes, N. Bhandarim, J.N. Goswamim, M.A. Wieczorek, and the C1XS team, 2011, Lunar X-ray fluorescence observations by the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS): Results from the nearside southern highlands, Icarus 214, 53-66

Last updated 27 November 2011