Dr Mel Rodgers is a geophysicist and volcanologist at the University of South Florida.

Rodgers left The Perse to study Geophysics at the University of Durham, after which she worked for a Geophysical Survey Company, ARKeX,  doing airborne surveys for oil and gas exploration.  She obtained her doctorate from the University of South Florida, where the focus of her studies was on volcano seismology surrounding eruptions at Telica volcano, Nicaragua.

She was then an academic fellow at the University of Oxford from 2013 to 2016. Dr Rodgers then returned to the University of South Florida, where she is currently a Research Assistant Professor. Her research focuses on trying to improve monitoring and forecasting capabilities of active volcanoes, using statistical data analysis and innovative techniques to deal with the large data sets generated.

Mel returned to The Perse in January 2015 to deliver one of the highly popular‘42’ lectures.