Rónadh Cox (born 1962) is an Irish geologist who is the Edward Brust Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

, Massachusetts. Her research considers the impact of storms on coastal boulders. She is a Member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

and a Fellow of both the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

Early life and education

Cox is from Ireland. She says she became interested in geology as a teenager, because her geography teacher "delighted in the natural world,". She attended

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

for her undergraduate degree, where she majored in geology. After earning her bachelor's degree, Cox moved to BP, where she worked as a geological assistant. She moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for her graduate research, joining

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

as a doctoral student. After earning her doctorate, Cox was appointed to the

Rand Afrikaans University The Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) (Afrikaans: ''Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit'') was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surroundings from 1967 to 2004. It ha ...

as a postdoctoral researcher. She spent two years in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

before returning to North America.

Research and career

Cox joined the faculty at

in 1996, and was eventually promoted to Edward Brust Professor of Geology and Mineralogy. In 2019 she was concurrently appointed a Visiting Professor in the School of Earth Sciences at UCD. Cox's research considers how storm waves move boulders. She has studied the impact of strong storms (some equivalent to

category 3 hurricane Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) *Categories (Peirce) *Category (Vais ...

s) on Ireland's west coast, with focus on the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; , ) or The Arans ( ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony (Ireland), barony of Aran in ...

. In particular, she showed that 2013-14 Atlantic winter storms in Europe moved numerous hundred-tonne boulders, so-called 'megagravel' the largest ever dislocated by the waves of storms. Her team also demonstrated formation of new boulders quarried from bedrock by wave action, well above sea level. In 2020, she was awarded a new grant from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

to study the dynamic evolution of boulder beaches. From 2012 to 2016, Cox served as editor of the journal ''

Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

'', and went on to serve on the editorial board.

Awards and honours

*2013 Elected Fellow of the

*2020 Appointed Fellow of Future Earth Coasts *2020 EU Atlantic Strategy Atlantic Project Award *2020 Distinguished Service Award of the Geological Society of America *2021 Elected to the

*2022 Elected Fellow of the

Selected publications

* * * *

Personal life

Whilst a doctoral student in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Cox met her husband, Mark Brandriss.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Rónadh 1962 births Living people 20th-century Irish geologists Fellows of the Geological Society of America Williams College faculty Alumni of University College Dublin BP people Irish women geologists 21st-century Irish geologists Members of the Royal Irish Academy Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Scientists from County Dublin Scholars and academics from County Dublin Academic staff of Rand Afrikaans University