The award being given to Prof Stephen Sparks, of the University of Bristol, is considered the "Nobel Prize of the earth sciences".
Prof Sparks headed monitoring efforts when Montserrat's SoufriÃ¨re Hills volcano came to life in the 1990s.
He will be awarded a medal and $250,000 at a ceremony in New York in June.
Elected to the Royal Society at the age of 38, Prof Sparks is among the world's mostly highly-cited geologists.
He is credited with being one of the first to apply maths and physics to the interpretation of volcanic processes and deposits in the field, bringing volcanology into the modern era.
He pioneered methods for assessing the danger posed by active volcanic eruptions, helping governments to improve decisions about evacuations and rebuilding.
Prof Sparks, who was born in London and raised in Chester, is a father-of two who now lives in Bristol with his wife Ann.
Barry Voight, a volcanologist at Pennsylvania State University, said: "Everyone has an egotism that drives their research, but Steve never lets it get in the way of working with others.
"You know he's not going to pick your brain and run off with your ideas. Instead, he will often improve on them."
The Vetlesen Prize is supported by the G Unger Vetlesen Foundation and administered by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.
Prof Stephen Sparks' career
A British geologist whose work has improved the ability to forecast deadly volcanic eruptions is to receive the 2015 Vetlesen Prize.