The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) supports the work of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) and provides funding for the MVO Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), who assess volcanic activity at Montserrat on an annual basis.

COMET members sit on this committee and contribute to the UK’s understanding of potential hazardous activity.

In December 2023, the SAC produced a report that noted an increase in “unrest” at the volcano, but advised that: “the chance that explosions or pyroclastic flows will occur within the next year remains low. Continuous monitoring of the volcano is essential.” The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs was questioned about activity at the volcano in March 2023, and he drew upon the SAC’s reports in his response.

Mike Burton (COMET Scientist, University of Manchester) and Jurgen Neuberg (COMET Scientist, University of Leeds) currently serve as members of the the Montserrat Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC).

In 2023, COMET (Jurgen Neuberg and Evgenia Ilyenskaya, both University of Leeds) contributed to a pilot study and position paper on air monitoring on Montserrat for the FCDO and the Government of Montserrat. The position paper will influence both the ongoing tender process of the Montserrat Observatory (MVO) and the future of air monitoring on Montserrat.