BGS opens its doors to visitors at its Open Day in Keyworth
BGS hosted its bi-annual Open Day on 8 June 2024, welcoming more than 1000 visitors to its headquarters in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire.
12/06/2024 By BGS Press
This year’s BGS Open Day featured more than 25 hands-on activities, including landslide modelling and gold panning, as well as a wide range of demonstrations that were fun for the whole family.
The event, which was free to attend, also included a number of visitor tours, including the BGS Core Store, the largest core facility in the UK, a virtual reality tour of Great Britain in the 3D visualisation facility and a wilding tour around the campus grounds to see its wildflower meadows, bug hotels and pond.
Visitors also had the opportunity to meet and speak to BGS scientists, as well as take part in the family quiz and show, both of which took place twice during the day.

Visitors taking part in one of the activities at the Open Day. BGS © UKRI.
It was a pleasure to be able to welcome so many visitors, including family and friends of those who work at BGS, to this year’s Open Day. Seeing everyone engage and enjoy geoscience through the numerous activities, demonstrations and tours that were available was fantastic. On behalf of BGS, we would like to thank everyone who attended, and we look forwarded to hosting the next one.
Dr Karen Hanghøj, BGS Director.

Visitors enjoying virtual reality tour of Great Britain in the 3D visualisation facility. BGS © UKRI.
The BGS Open Day was another resounding success, with over 1000 visitors attending our office site at Keyworth, Nottinghamshire. There was a lot of geoscience available as well as a site tour, where visitors were able to see our wildflower meadows, bug hotels, the pond, ‘snake wood’ (sadly the grass snakes were lying low) and our orchard. Visitors also saw many insects, birds and wildflowers as a direct result of our environmental sustainability work.
A large part of our meadow land is being prepared for a ground-source heat pump and ‘living laboratory’, which will support data collection and help us meet our net zero targets. Visitors were able to see the preparation works in action where, in a few months, this area will be restored as an orchard and wildflower meadow.
Prof Melanie Leng, BGS Chief Scientist for environment change, adaptation and resilience.
Relative topics
Related news

Why do we store geological core?
11/09/2025
With space at a premium and the advance of new digitisation techniques, why does retaining over 600 km of physical specimens remain of national importance?

PhD adventures in the Philippines: coring around Lake Bulusan
05/09/2025
Chris Bengt recounts his two-week field trip to Bulusan Volcano Natural Park in the Philippines to collect lake sediment cores, fresh soil and water samples.

New seabed sediment maps reveal what lies beneath the waves
03/09/2025
Marine ecosystem science and offshore infrastructure will be boosted by a new dataset showing sediment composition across the UK continental shelf.

New geological ‘pathways’ discovered beneath Welsh capital
02/09/2025
Scientists have discovered cavities in the clay underneath Cardiff, which will influence the siting of future geothermal developments.

BGS artificial ground data: what do you need from a geological survey?
28/08/2025
BGS is seeking user feedback on artificial ground data: how you use it, what information you consider, and what we can do to improve our offering.

New research published on brownfield land
27/08/2025
National Brownfield Forum research on the interactions of policies affecting the planning and development of brownfield land has been published.

Join our consortium – de-risking underground thermal energy storage
25/08/2025
BGS is inviting interested parties to investigate how site-scale geological data can be used to optimise thermal storage scheme performance.

Dr Kathryn Goodenough appointed as honorary professor by the University of Aberdeen
25/08/2025
Dr Goodenough will take up the position within the School of Geosciences with a focus on critical minerals and the energy transition.

Gemini: a new stable isotope tool
21/08/2025
BGS’s Stable Isotope Facility has new mass spectrometer equipment for analysing carbon and oxygen isotopes from carbonates and water.

BGS scientists work with United Nations to update hazard profiles
21/08/2025
From tsunamis to sinkholes, the profiles provide a standardised, internationally agreed definition of hazards to support disaster risk management worldwide.

Scientists uncover secrets of Stonehenge’s mysterious cattle
20/08/2025
Cutting-edge analysis of a Neolithic cow tooth dating back to the construction of the famous landmark provides evidence of Welsh origins.

New study reveals geological facility’s value to UK economy
19/08/2025
For the first time, an economic valuation report has brought into focus the scale of the National Geological Repository’s impact on major infrastructure projects.