About

Colin Wilson is a Professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University. His research spans several interconnected areas within cognitive science, focusing primarily on theoretical phonology, experimental phonology and phonetics, and computational cognitive science. In theoretical phonology, his work addresses phonotactics, constraint learning, and the interaction of phonological constraints. His experimental phonology and phonetics research investigates constraints on phonetic variation, cross-language perception and production, and artificial grammar learning. Additionally, Wilson's computational cognitive science research involves probabilistic models of phonology, spatial language, and visual working memory. Through these diverse yet related domains, he contributes to a deeper understanding of the cognitive and computational mechanisms underlying language and perception.

Research topics

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science
• Geology
• Geochemistry
• Seismology
• Earth science
• Psychology
• Natural Language Processing
• Geography
• Linguistics
• Communication
• Paleontology
• Geomorphology
• Theoretical computer science
• Petrology
• Cognitive science
• Neuroscience
• Physical geography
• Programming language

Selected publications

• Martian ionospheric response during the May 2024 solar superstorm

  Nature Communications · 2026-03-05

  articleOpen access

  Solar energetic events can have considerable effects on planetary ionospheres. However, the erratic nature of these solar energetic events make observations difficult. Here we show a mutual radio occultation observation, which serendipitously occurred just 10 minutes after a large solar flare impacted Mars. This resulted in the largest lower ionospheric layer ever recorded, where it was 278% its typical size. We used in-situ soft x-ray irradiance measurements to show a threefold increase in flux. This infers a different relation of soft X-ray to this layer's density than previously thought, with variations depending on the amount of spectrum 'hardening' leading to the increase of ionisation from secondaries.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Layer by Layer: Differentiating Yellowstone’s Eruptions through Remapping, Petrology, and Geochronology

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

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  PublisherDOI

• Functionally graded spinodal nanoarchitected ceramics with unprecedented recoverability

  International Journal of Mechanical Sciences · 2025-06-25 · 2 citations

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  PublisherDOI

• Origins and environmental impacts of distal rhyolitic tephra layers on Chatham Island, New Zealand

  Journal of Quaternary Science · 2025-12-29 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  ABSTRACT Chatham Island, ~700 km east of mainland New Zealand, preserves several macroscopic tephra beds, sourced from the central Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) some 850 km away. These layers, often enclosed within peat, provide insights into the eruptive characteristics, timing and paleoenvironmental impacts of large explosive rhyolitic eruptions in a distal setting. We report the nature, origins and impacts of these tephras by documenting bulk and centimetric‐scale stratigraphic changes in glass shard geochemistry and millimetric‐scale changes in pollen assemblages in the enclosing peats. Three layers are investigated: the ~25.5 ka Kawakawa–Ōruanui Tephra (KOT), the ~345 ka Rangitawa Tephra and one newly discovered tephra. The KOT shows no stratigraphic variability in glass composition throughout ~15 cm thickness. The Rangitawa Tephra contains three glass populations that were deposited sequentially throughout the eruption and further link this tephra to the Whakamaru supereruption. The new tephra has two glass populations and is matched to the ~322 ka Matahina caldera‐forming eruption. High‐resolution sampling of peat bracketing the KOT and Rangitawa Tephra reveals marked changes in local vegetation following the deposition of both tephras. The nature of the changes varies between events and can be explained by differing paleoenvironmental settings, climate and/or tephra thickness.

  PublisherDOI

• Elemental, Sr and Pb isotopic variability of alteration phases in Nakhla and Yamato 000593: Insights from step leaching experiments

  2025-01-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Mahi Tahi ‐ Rū Whenua: Tangata Whenua & Kairangahau Pūtaiao. Reflective Learnings on Partnering With Indigenous Māori Communities in Field‐Based Scientific Research

  Community Science · 2025-04-16 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Kupu Whakataki I timata ai tēnei rangahau I te tau 2018. I tūtakitaki ai I ngā kairangahau a Eleanor Mestel me ōna hoa mahi nō: Te Whare Wānanga o Te Herenga Waka; Te Whare Wānanga o Te Kūnenga ki Pūrehuroa; C.D.E.M. Taupō. I kōrerorero tahi ki ngā tangata o ia whenua ki te kaupapa matua me ngā wawata o te rangahau ‐ Ahi Tupua. Mā ngā mihini rū whenua e kitea te katoa o tōna āhua. Ōna hōhonu, ōna whānui. Ōna nukunuku, ōna nekeneke. Mā reira kua whakatō ngā mihini ine rūwhenua ki rō whenua. Kua oti ai te mahi rangahau ine rūwhenua I te tau 2022. Ka āta wetewete e Eleanor i ngā tātai rāraunga. Mā reira kua kitea te āhua nei o Ahi Tupua. Ko te ngako o te rangahau, me pehea te hohonutanga o te Mātauranga Māori ki te putaiao pakeha kia noho whānau ai. A tōna wā ka hoki mai a Eleanor ki te iwi ki te whakatakoto i ngā kōrero whakaputa I tōna rangahau.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exceptional Normal Fault Slip in Association with a Caldera-Forming Eruption: A Case Study from Taupō, New Zealand

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Nowhere to hide: Volcanic ash invasion of limestone caves in New Zealand

  Geology · 2025-08-19 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Limestone caves are commonly located close to volcanic regions and can preserve signals of past eruptions, providing crucial chronostratigraphic constraints within and beyond U-Th dating limits for karst development and cave evolution. Here we document five caves in the Waitomo karst region of New Zealand that contain volcanic ash (tephra) from the Taupō Volcanic Zone, a highly active region of silicic volcanism. The cave-hosted deposits are glassy due to their protection from weathering, with one example being poorly sorted and locally indurated where pyroclastic flows filled the cave. Other deposits are bedded and inferred to have been water remobilized into the caves from surficial ash deposits. Glass compositions indicate that tephras located in cave floors and roof cavities and on cave walls were sourced from four caldera-forming eruptions, the 1.55 Ma Ngaroma, 1 Ma Kidnappers, 349 ka Whakamaru, and ca. 50 ka Rotoiti events, plus a smaller-volume event from Taupō volcano at ca. 40 ka, highlighting the repeated impact of explosive eruptions on this region. Tephra studies in caves thus provide crucial information that can be used to constrain cave sediment and volcanic histories, vertebrate fossil chronologies, and cave system and landscape evolution.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evolution of a peralkaline rhyolite magmatic system: Tūhua (Mayor Island), New Zealand

  2025-01-01

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  PublisherDOI

• Recycling of ash particles during highly explosive eruptions: multiple glass populations in the 1.8 ka Taupō tephra

  Bulletin of Volcanology · 2025-12-04 · 3 citations

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  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Interpretable neural network models of morphological realization

  NSF · $273k · 2020–2024

• Collaborative Research: A Bayesian model of phonetic and phonotactic effects in cross-language speech production

  NSF · $164k · 2011–2016

Frequent coauthors

• B. L. A. Charlier

  Victoria University of Wellington

  59 shared

• Simon J. Barker

  Victoria University of Wellington

  55 shared

• B. F. Houghton

  University of Hawaii System

  42 shared

• M. Myers

  Montana State University

  28 shared

• Paul Wallace

  University of California, San Francisco

  23 shared

• Graham S. Leonard

  GNS Science

  23 shared

• J. A. Gamble

  University College Cork

  23 shared

• Finnigan Illsley‐Kemp

  Victoria University of Wellington

  20 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Geology

  Imperial College London

  1981

• B.Sc.(Hons), Geology

  Imperial College London

  1977