TAPP 

Dr. Geoffrey Howarth is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town. As an igneous petrologist and economic geologist, he is interested in the evolution of ancient (~3 billion-year old) cratonic regions through the study of kimberlites, mantle xenoliths, diamonds, and continental flood basalts (CFBs). In recent years, he has applied his knowledge as a terrestrial petrologist to the study of Mars using meteorites. Through this combined terrestrial and Martian research, he aims to tackle big-picture questions involving plume volcanism and the mantle evolution of both Earth and Mars. Geoff completed his PhD in Geology at Rhodes University under the supervision of Prof. Steve Prevec, following which he held two consecutive post-doctoral research positions at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and at the University of Cape Town, respectively. In 2018, he held a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia, Athens, where he taught igneous petrology. Geoff was awarded a ‘P’ (for Prestigious) research rating from the National Research Foundation, South Africa, in 2018. He returned to South Africa in 2019 to take up his current Lectureship at UCT, and in the same year was selected as part of the UCT Vice Chancellor’s 2030 Leadership Project. He teaches courses and runs field trips related to economic geology, and leads his own research group related to Terrestrial and Planetary Petrology (TAPP) and economic geology.