Biographical Sketch
Philip R. Kyle, Professor of Geochemistry

Philip R. Kyle was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He attended Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and earned 3 degrees. In 1971 he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology. In 1972 he commenced graduate studies and obtained a Bachelor of Science Honors Degree, First Class in Geology. He was awarded a New Zealand University Grants Committee Post-graduate Scholarship and completed his Ph.D. degree in 1976. His dissertation was entitled Geology, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of the Late Cenozoic McMurdo Volcanic Group, Victoria Land, Antarctica.

In 1976 he was awarded an Ohio State University Postdoctoral Fellowship and worked in the Institute of Polar Studies (now known as the Byrd Polar Research Center). Until August 1981 he remained at Ohio State University in the Institute of Polar Studies firstly as a Research Associate and later as a Senior Research Associate and was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology and Mineralogy. He joined the Department of Geoscience (now the Department of Earth and Environmental Science) at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in August 1981 as an Assistant Professor of Geochemistry. In July 1984 he became an Associate Professor and then Professor in September 1988, the position he currently holds. Since 1992 he has had a joint appointment with the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources and is responsible for geochemical analyses by x-ray fluorescence and instrumental neutron activation.

Philip Kyle has worked extensively in Antarctica, having undertaken field work over 32 austral summer field seasons; he has visited or worked at Mount Erebus for 31 field seasons. His first visit to Antarctica was in 1969; he completed 6 seasons of work under the auspices of the New Zealand Antarctic Research Project. From 1977 to the present day he has been the Principal Investigator on numerous National Science Foundation research grants and has completed 25 seasons of field work with the U.S. Antarctic Program. In 1972/73 he was a Site Geologist and Principal Investigator with the Dry Valley Drilling Project. In 1974/75 he was Project Co-ordinator and Geologist with a French-New Zealand-US expedition to Mount Erebus.

In recent years Philip Kyle has been interested in measuring the emission rates of gases and aerosols from volcanoes. He and his students have undertaken research at Mount Erebus, Antarctica; Lonquimay, Chile; Mount Etna, Italy; Kilauea, Hawaii; and White Island, New Zealand. Since 1991 he has become involved in several volcanological projects in Kamchatka and has made 4 visits there. In July 1997 he mapped volcanic rocks in the Kurile Lake area of southern Kamchatka. Read about his trip to Antarctica in 2002 here.