Bill McGuire.

Bill McGuire is a volcanologist, climate scientist, activist, keynote speaker, and writer of both popular science and speculative fiction. He is Professor Emeritus of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London, where he earned his PhD in Geology and spent much of his career, including a period as Director of the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre. Widely regarded as a leading UK authority on geological disasters — from supervolcanoes and earthquakes to tsunamis and impact events — his research has taken him to sites including Mount Etna, the Canary Islands, and the Yellowstone supervolcano.

Bill’s expertise has repeatedly placed him at the centre of national and international responses to natural hazards. He served on the UK Government’s Natural Hazard Working Group, established in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) during the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. He was also a contributing author to the IPCC’s 2011 report on climate change and extreme events, and a member of the Lancet–UCL Commission on the Health Effects of Climate Change. Today he continues his advocacy as Co-director of the New Weather Institute, a Patron of Scientists for Global Responsibility, and Special Scientific Advisor to The Word Forest Organisation.

Alongside his academic work, Bill is a prolific and acclaimed author. His non-fiction titles include Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide, A Guide to the End of the World: Everything You Never Wanted to Know, and Waking the Giant: How a Changing Climate Triggers Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes — the latter ranked fifth in a Guardian list of the best-ever eco books. His writing has drawn praise from figures such as Chris Packham, Tony Juniper, and Mike Berners-Lee, with Jonathon Porritt describing him as an authoritative and mightily inspiring voice on the climate crisis.

Bill is also a storyteller beyond the page. His debut novel, Skyseed, was published in 2020, and his short fiction has appeared online and in anthologies. A familiar presence in broadcast media, he has featured in numerous television and radio programmes, including the BBC’s Horizon, and has presented series such as BBC Radio 4’s Disasters in Waiting.

Never one to shy away from hard truths, Bill combines scientific rigour with an urgent, unflinching message about the future of our planet — his Who’s Who entry famously lists “worrying about the future of our planet” among his interests. He lives in Brassington in the Peak District.