New appointments to BGS Science Advisory Committee

BGS is delighted to announce several new appointments to the BGS Science Advisory Committee (SAC), the body that advises on the development and delivery of BGS public-good science.

The following individuals will serve three-year terms as part of the SAC:

• Ruth Allington, engineering geologist in independent practice, specialising in the design of quarries and mines, and immediate past president of The Geological Society
• Prof Neil Hyatt, chief scientific advisor to Nuclear Waste Services and Aegis Professor of deep time at the University of Bristol
• Prof Jennifer McKinley, professor of geology and mathematical geoscience, Queen’s University Belfast
  

After having served as an observer for the past year, Prof Carol Frost, currently a member of the BGS Board, has also been appointed to the role of SAC Chair.

The addition of such expertise will be invaluable to our work in guiding BGS’s efforts to deliver a science strategy that empowers the pursuit of enhanced knowledge of the subsurface and enables effective decision making.

Prof Carol Frost, SAC Chair.

The SAC will continue to advise BGS on how best to focus on the four priority science areas identified in the BGS Strategy 2023 to 2028, ‘Understanding our Earth’:

• maps and models for the 21st century
• a more secure energy transition
• improved water security
• living with geological hazards

Under the terms of the body’s standard governance framework, the committee has seen a series of departures over the past 12 months. These include:

• Dr Patrick Bermingham, former exploration chief geophysicist, Shell International Exploration and Production
• Prof Stephen de Mora, independent environmental consultant
• Prof Cherry Tweed, MBE, former chief scientific advisor to Nuclear Waste Services

Also stepping down from the SAC is Prof Frances Wall, professor of applied mineralogy at Camborne School of Mines, who has acted as the SAC Chair for the past six years.

It has been an honour to serve alongside such passionate advocates of geoscience and to share in their collective vision for BGS’s operations over the coming years. Their work in shaping BGS’s strategy will continue to play a central role in the organisation’s direction at a time of great demand for essential geological expertise.

Prof Frost and the BGS science leadership team.