Geoscience Research Directorate

Dr David Kerridge
Director of Geoscientifc Research

David was appointed Director of Geoscience Research on 1 April 2011 after three years as Head of the Earth Hazards and Systems science theme with responsibility for the Earthquake Seismology, Geomagnetism and Volcanology teams. In that role he advised the Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat on geohazards to inform the National Risk Assessment and worked with the UK Met Office and other agencies to establish the Natural Hazards Partnership and the Space Environment Impacts Expert Group. David joined BGS with a PhD in geomagnetism and initially worked on global geomagnetic field modelling, including the International Geomagnetic Reference Field. He led projects commissioned by the European Space Agency on space weather forecasting and developed new methods for surveying wellbores with application to directional drilling, leading to a joint patent with Halliburton and a financially successful alliance agreement. He had management responsibility for the Edinburgh Anisotropy Project for 10 years from 1997 and in 2005 he led a multi-agency study commissioned by the UK Government on the tsunami threat to the UK. David has served the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy in a number of capacities, including President from 1999-2003. He is a member of the Executive Council of INTERMAGNET, the body co-ordinating the global magnetic observatory network. In 2009 he was given the Royal Astronomical Society's award for services to geophysics and received an MBE in the 2010 New Year Honours list.