BGS operates and maintains a wide range of state-of-the-art laboratories and other facilities. These facilities, managed under the Laboratory Facilities Programme, underpin virtually all of our diverse range of core and commissioned research programmes.
In addition to information on capability, you will find examples of how our science facilities contribute to our research efforts.
Our science facilities
![South Georgia Geophysical observatory](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/feature_southgeorgia_geophysical_observatory.jpg)
Geophysical observatories
BGS operates a series of magnetic observatories around the globe.
![Geotechnical research and design facility](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/feature_Geotechnical_RD.jpg)
Engineering and Geotechnical Capability
The BGS Engineering and Geotechnical Capability leads the development and application of field and laboratory infrastructure and long-term management of geophysical and geotechnical property data.
![geoscientist in the lab](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/feature_careers_p514969.jpg)
Centre for Environmental Geochemistry
The Centre for Environmental Geochemistry focuses on the use of geochemistry in research, training and teaching.
![Geomicrobiology laboratory](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/feature_Geomicrobiology.jpg)
Fluid and Rock Processes Laboratory Cluster
This cluster does research to identify, measure and quantify complex geological and environmental processes essential in the efficient utilisation of natural resources and underground spaces.
![feature_rock_volume_gypsum](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/feature_rock_volume_gypsum.jpg)
Rock Volume Characterisation Laboratory Cluster
This cluster studies the structural and compositional characterisation of rocks and their constituent parts at all scales.
Related news
![Sophia and Job at BGS conducting specialist analysis of Pu in soils.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Job_Sophia_Lab_T-Barlow_thumbnail.jpg)
Harnessing global collaboration: UK/Kenya partnership in soil erosion research
31/05/2024
Collaboration between scientists is vital in today’s interconnected world to further scientific progress. In environmental research, issues such as soil erosion demand collaboration on an international scale.
![P1038353](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/P1038353.webp)
Hungry like a wolf: new insights from old bones housed in the BGS museum collections
18/01/2024
BGS scientists are studying the diets of ancient British wolves and how they adapted to changing environments.
![Chris Bengt, PhD Student, in Stable Isotope Lab, Keyworth. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/chris-bengt-p1038345.webp)
Understanding nutrients in tropical rainforests
11/01/2024
Christopher Bengt talks about carrying out research for his PhD amongst the rainforests and volcanoes of the Philippines.
![Gold mining activities (milled ore washing and sluicing) and community drinking water downslope of ASGM activities. © Maureene Auma Ondayo.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/gold-mining-activities-sluicing-p1038343-960x645.webp)
Linking geochemistry and health in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Kakamega-Vihiga gold belt, Kenya
09/01/2024
PhD candidate Maureene Auma Ondayo is investigating major and trace element exposure in the environment in Kenya, aiming to reduce exposure of humans to toxic chemicals.
![Charlotte Hopkins working in the National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF). BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_3959.webp)
My role as a stable isotope research assistant
19/12/2023
Charlotte Hipkiss has recently taken up a new position in the National Environmental Isotope Facility at BGS and gives us a little insight into her new position.
![Mount Millar. Dr Teal Riley, BAS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/mount-millar.jpg)
Antarctic mountain named in honour of BGS scientist
06/11/2023
BGS’s Ian Millar has been honoured for his geological research in Antarctica by having a mountain on the continent named after him.
![Five students stand behind a sign for the British Geological Survey](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Students-BGS-sign-960x640.jpg)
Nurturing early career scientists: 20 years of undergraduate industrial placements at BGS
28/09/2023
Michael Watts, BGS Head of Inorganic Chemistry, and previous placement students reflect on their experiences working at BGS’s Inorganic Geochemistry Facility over the past 20 years.
![Fossils, including microfossils such as this foraminifera, can tell us about past climates and environments via analysis of their shells' chemical composition. Florilus asterizans from Hong Kong. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/P724548_960.jpg)
BGS laboratory spotlight: isotopes as recorders of climate and environmental change
06/09/2023
How measuring oxygen and carbon isotopes in tiny fossils improves our understanding of past climate.
![20230725_152425](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/20230725_152425.jpg)
Midlands Innovation TALENT placement at BGS
15/08/2023
Jodie Brown revisits her time at BGS’s Stable Isotope Facility as part of the Midlands Innovation TALENT project, which aims to increase the status of technicians.
![Vanessa in the stable isotopes lab at the British Geological Survey. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/vanessa-nowinski-945px.jpg)
My experience as an international PhD student visiting BGS
17/07/2023
PhD student Vanessa Nowinski describes her experience in the stable isotopes labs at BGS, while working on the famous Lake Suigetsu.
![Plant sampling for strontium and sulphur plant analysis. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_20190716_123048_960px.jpg)
Updated biosphere map for the UK released
07/07/2023
The updated biosphere map for the UK will allow users to identify sulphur isotope variations.
![Four-hundred-year-old bear paw bone (metapodial) showing where it has been sampled for isotopes and ancient DNA analysis. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/7CB62E87-0791-4727-AB91-7B67BD71C5E3.jpg)
Exploring animal diets in Shakespeare’s London
31/03/2023
The ‘Box office bears’ project aims to understand more about the bears that were once a common sight in England. Prof Hannah O’Regan and Dr Lizzie Wright from the University of Nottingham explain what the project entails.