Research news and awards

Latest news about our research. Project progress and collaboration. Awards and achievements.

Doctorate success for BGS Isotope Apprentice

Jonathan Dean Graduation

Congratulations to Dr Jonathan Dean who graduated from the University of Nottingham yesterday. Jonathan is currently working within the Stable Isotope Facility at the BGS as an Isotope Apprentice. His PhD research was entitled: Stable Isotope Analysis and U-Th Dating of Late Glacial and Holocene Lacustrine Sediments from Central Turkey.



21 July 2014
New paper discussing the Anthropocene

Dr Jonathan Dean

This paper considers whether the Anthropocene is recorded in the isotope geochemistry of the atmosphere, sediments, plants and ice cores, and the time frame during which any changes are recorded, presenting examples from the literature. Dean, J.R., Leng, M.J., Mackay, A.W. 2014. Is there an isotopic signature of the Anthropocene? The Anthropocene Review.



16 July 2014
PhD on seasonality of the Pliocene southern North Sea Basin

Annemarie Valentine
Annemarie Valentine from the University of Derby has successfully defended her PhD research on "An investigation into the seasonality of the Pliocene southern North Sea Basin: a sclerochronological approach". Annemarie was supervised by Dr Andy Johnson at the University of Derby and Prof Melanie Leng at the BGS.


4 July 2014
PhD on climate change over Northern Iberian

Andi Smith
Andi Smith from the University of Lancaster has defended his PhD research on Speleothem Climate Capture – A Holocene Reconstruction of Northern Iberian Climate and Environmental Change". Andi was supervised by Dr Peter Wynn and Prof Phil Barker at Lancaster University and Prof Melanie Leng and Dr Steve Noble at the BGS.


4 July 2014
A new epoch?

The Geological Society

The Geological Society has released a new Special Publication, 'A Stratigraphical Basis for the Anthropocene' that summarises the evidence that we’re now living in a new geological epoch – one of our own making.

The report has been edited by Colin Waters and Mike Ellis, with authors including Simon Price, Jon Ford, Ian Wilkinson and Tony Cooper.



16 June 2014
Stakeholder forum presentations

3D geological model
Presentations from the British Geological Survey's Stakeholder Forum which took place at The Royal Society on Monday 2 June. The short programme included presentations on the BGS Strategy and developments on our business entity, followed by a networking reception.


10 June 2014
Chicken project gets off the ground

Nature cover
A new research project has begun to examine the history of chickens, involving archaeological records to investigate the history of the world’s most widely established livestock species, originally descended from the wild jungle fowl of South East Asia. The project, entitled Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions", was made possible with the help of a £1.94 million grant from the AHRC under the Science In Culture Awards Large Grants call. Researchers from Nottingham University, as well as universities of Bournemouth, Durham, Leicester, Roehampton and York, will be examining when and how rapidly domesticated chickens spread across Europe and the history of their exploitation for meat and eggs. Research methods will include stable isotope analysis at the BGS Stable Isotope Facility, in collaboration with the University of Nottingham within the Centre for Environmental Geochemistry. For more information see this issue of Nature.


9 June 2014
Honorary Lecturer at the University of Nottingham

BGS staff member Andrew Tye

Dr Andrew Tye who works within the Soils, Landscape and Climate Processes Team has been made an Honorary Lecturer within the School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham.

Andy has been awarded this honour in recognition of his collaboration with Nottingham in a diverse range of soil related topics including major nutrient cycles (N, P) in soils and waters, trace element cycling, especially in alluvial soils and the effects of land use change and time on soil properties. Andy also works on soil erosion, weathering and soil formation and the Ecosystems Services and Natural Capital concepts for soils.



6 June 2014
SOIL editorial role for Dr Barry Rawlins

Soil Journal

Dr Barry Rawlins the Sustainable Soils team leader at the BGS, has been appointed as a topic editor for the EGU open access journal SOIL. SOIL is an international scientific journal dedicated to the publication and discussion of high-quality research in the field of soil system sciences. 



14 May 2014
Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham

BGS staff member Barry Rawlins

Dr Barry Rawlins, Team Leader for Soil and Landscape Processes has been made an Honorary Associate Professor within the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham.

Barry has been awarded this honour in recognition of his collaboration with the university over a diverse range of applied topics including environmental geochemistry and soil science (including digital soil mapping and the biogeochemistry of carbon and phosphorus).  In both environmental geochemistry and soil science Barry has used geostatistical techniques to understand the controls on the distribution of macronutrients, naturally occurring radiation and pollutants in both rural and urban settings, mostly in the UK.

Publications in NORA



14 April 2014