Rate My Professor Sophia Tsang

Dr. Sophia Tsang is an education-focused Lecturer in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment within Monash University's Faculty of Science. She obtained her ScB in Geology from Brown University in 2015, with a thesis entitled 'A Geochemical Study of the Eastern Vents of Akaroa Volcano, New Zealand.' Tsang completed her PhD in Geology at the University of Auckland in 2020, focusing her dissertation on 'Modelling the Hazard Footprint and Consequences of Lava Flows in an Urban Environment.' She further earned a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching from the University of Auckland in 2022. Before joining Monash, Tsang was a Community Engagement Specialist at GNS Science from January 2023 to February 2024 and continues as an Honorary Academic at the University of Auckland from 2023 to 2025. Her career emphasizes transdisciplinary Earth Systems Science, bridging research, education, and community engagement.

Tsang's research specializations encompass effusive volcanic hazards and geoscience education. She applies computational and analogue modeling, field and laboratory methods, and qualitative social science approaches to address community-relevant challenges, supporting UN SDGs like Quality Education (SDG 4) and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11). With 17 research outputs, her influential publications include 'Developing a suite of multi-hazard volcanic eruption scenarios using an interdisciplinary approach' (Hayes et al., 2020; 62 citations), 'Lava flow crises in inhabited areas part I: lessons learned and research gaps related to effusive, basaltic eruptions' (Tsang and Lindsay, 2020; 26 citations), 'The DEVORA scenarios: multi-hazard eruption scenarios for the Auckland Volcanic Field' (Hayes et al., 2018; 23 citations), and 'The heating of substrates beneath basaltic lava flows' (Tsang et al., 2019; 20 citations). Recent works cover children's food gardening ('Children’s food gardening: valuing experiential, intergenerational and multi-cultural learning', Sharp et al., 2025) and composting knowledge (Tsang et al., 2025). At Monash, she coordinates first-year units EAE1011 and EAE1022, supervises PhD students, and peer-reviews for Scientific Data.