Professor John McCloskey, Professor of Geophysics, has been awarded a Senior Distinguished Research Fellowship by the University of Ulster.

A native of Derry, he is Head of School of Environmental Sciences and has a worldwide reputation as an expert in earthquake research. He leads the Coleraine Geophysics Research Group in identifying areas susceptible to earthquakes and also works in collaboration with some of the world’s leading earthquake scientists.

His expertise was demonstrated graphically last March in his team’s prediction of a large quake in the Sumatra region of the Indian Ocean 10 days before it struck. The warning, particularly in light of the 2004 Tsunami, received global media coverage.

Professor McCloskey was educated at Chapel Road PS and St Columb’s College, Derry before going to Queen’s University Belfast where he graduated with a BSc in Geology, with a physics component. Teaching in the secondary sector for 10 years, he began part-time study towards a PhD which he gained in 1992. “It was during that time that I became interested in the process of earthquakes and in applying ideas and theories of physics to understanding them,” he said.

He joined the University of Ulster as a post-doctoral researcher and received the European Geophysics Society’s Publication Award in 1993 for a paper on physics and earthquakes.

He said: “The Fellowship is a great honour for me personally and for the School of Environmental Sciences. It reaffirms the high regard by our peers within the University for the quality of research within the School.”

Professor McCloskey is married to Siobhan and they have two children, Mairead and Roisin.


Winter Graduation News 2005

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David Young
Telephone: 028 90366074
Email: David Young