[5] Woods studied the Mathematical Tripos as an undergraduate student of St John's College, Cambridge and completed his PhD in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) on geophysical fluid dynamics supervised by Herbert Huppert.

His work is characterised by the development of simplified mathematical and experimental models of complex fluid flow processes covering a wide range of phenomena from the dynamics of explosive volcanic eruptions, to geothermal power generation, carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery in heterogeneous porous rocks.

His work on the dynamics of mixing in turbulent buoyant plumes and gravity currents has led to new insights about the ascent height of volcanic eruption columns and the run-out distance of pyroclastic flow, as well as constraints on the dynamics of hydrothermal and oil plumes in the deep sea.

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