Education
1969-72 University of London, BSc;
1973-78 University of California, MA, PhD;
1991 Chartered Geologist (CGeol).

Employment
1978-85 Humboldt State University, California, Lecture;
1986-90 University of Edinburgh, Research Fellow;
1990-96 West London Institute of Higher Education, Subject Leader in Geology;
1996-07 Brunel University, Lecturer;
2007-present University of Portsmouth, Senior Lecturer.

Research
My chief research focus has been and remains in applied geology and geological hazards, particularly within active plate boundary settings.  Such settings have developed my skills in assessing neotectonic signatures and palaeoseismological records, both in surface features and subsurface exploratory trench exposures.  Similarly, hazards from active volcanic centres in these regions, particularly from volcano geodynamics and flank instability, form a related research focus. Such active geological phenomena also produce secondary geological hazards, notably seismically-triggered landslides, and comprise a further element in my research expertise.  Field experience relevant to neotectonics and palaeoseismology has been gained in California and the Basin and Range, New Zealand, Kamchatka, the Tien Shan mountains of central Asia, the Himalayan foothills of India, Sicily, Crete, eastern Turkey and Iceland. Experience in volcano dynamics and hazards has been gained through studies of Mt Etna, Stromboli, El Hierro and Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and volcanoes in Chile and Iceland.  Landsliding, and lacustrine deposits from landslide-dammed palaeolakes related to active seismic zones, have been studied along the San Andreas fault in Californai and the Talas-Fergana fault in Kyrgyzstan.  Other related experience relevant to the proposed project includes assessing landslide-generated tsunami potential in Dominica and El Hierro.

Current Research Activities
2013-14 Assessing human exposure to carcinogenic fibrous zeolites in the environment. University of Portsmouth Research Development Fund. Principal Investigator.

International collaborators
– Dr Andrey Korjenkov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow;
– Dr Mahar Lagmay, University of the Philippines;
– Dr Jean Roger, University of the West Indies, Guadelupe;
– Dr Pantelis Soupios, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Greece;
– Prof Alessandro Tibaldi, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy;
– Dr Dan Tormey, Entrix, Los Angeles, USA;

Recent publications relevant to this project
1. Teeuw, R.M., Rust, D., Solana, C., Dewdney, C., Robertson, R.  2009. Large coastal landslides and tsunami hazards in the Caribbean. EOS, American Geophysical Union, 90 (10), 80-81.
2. Kozhurin, A., Acocella, V., Kyle, P.R., Lagmay, F.M., Melekestsev, I.V., Ponomareva, V., Rust, D., Tibaldi, A., Tunesi, A., Corazzato, C., Rovida, A., Sakharov, A., Tengonciang, A., and Uy, H. 2006. Trenching studies of active faults in Kamchatka, eastern Russia: palaeoseismic, tectonic and hazard implications. Tectonophysics, 417, 285-304.
3. Rust, D. 2005. Palaeoseismology in steep terrain: the Big Bend of the San Andreas fault, Transverse Ranges, California. Tectonophysics, Special Volume on Palaeoseismology, 408,193-205.