Rate My Professor Jeroen Hunen

Professor Jeroen van Hunen holds the position of Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University, where he specializes in computational geoscience. He obtained his MSc from Utrecht University in 1996 and his PhD from the same institution in 2001. His professional career began with a postdoctoral researcher position in the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 2002 to 2004, followed by an appointment as Oberassistent at ETH Zurich from 2004 to 2006. Since joining Durham University in 2006, he has advanced through the ranks: Lecturer until 2011, Senior Lecturer from 2011 to 2013, Reader from 2013, and Professor from 2017 to the present. Over more than 25 years, he has modeled Earth systems and dynamics, encompassing large-scale processes like mantle convection and plate tectonics, as well as smaller-scale phenomena such as underground CO2 storage.

Van Hunen's research employs fluid dynamics to investigate Earth processes on diverse length and time scales, including subduction dynamics from shallow flat subduction to continental collision and slab break-off, dynamics of the early Earth, sub-lithospheric small-scale convection, plumes and intraplate volcanism, and interactions between tectonics and paleo-climate. Recent efforts focus on sustainable energy solutions, notably mine geothermal energy and carbon capture and storage. As Principal Investigator of the UKRI-funded GEMS project, he examines geothermal energy extraction from flooded abandoned mines and solar-geothermal heat integration, in collaboration with the British Geological Survey. He was elected President of the Geodynamics Division of the European Geosciences Union. Key publications include 'Geodynamics, 3rd edn.' (2015, Geophysical Journal International), 'Onset and Evolution of Plate Tectonics: Geodynamical Constraints' (2019, Elsevier), and recent works such as 'Thermal response of heterolithic deposits in flooded coal mines: implication for heat storage potential' (2026, Geothermics), 'Seismic imaging of a basaltic Lesser Antilles slab from ancient tectonics' (2025, Nature), 'Eclogite Induced Lithospheric Drips: Implications for the Removal of the Lithosphere at Magmatic Arcs and Orogens' (2025, Terra Nova), and 'Dynamic evolution of competing same-dip double subduction: New perspectives of the Neo-Tethyan plate tectonics' (2024, Earth and Planetary Science Letters). In 2020, he received a Royal Society award of £8,000 for 'Understanding craton stability using geodynamical and geochemical tools'.