Dangerous waters: investigating the distribution and social impacts of volcanic metal and volatile pollution in the East African Rift

More than 8% of the global population are exposed to volcanic hazards (Freire et al. 2019). These hazards come not just
from traditional eruptions and degassing, but also from the introduction of toxic metal pollutants weathered from volcanic
rock and washed into water resources and agriculture. In East Africa, rapid development is occurring alongside these
hazards, often with little regard for the ways in which society and hazard are interacting in these locations. This
interdisciplinary research proposes a method by which these duel hazards and their spatial distributions may be
quantified, while also examining the narrative of the community living with (and adapting to) them. It will target a key
affected area (potentially Awassa, Ethiopia) and deploy a range of social science and Earth science methods.