BGS welcomes two new board appointments for 2023

BGS today welcomes two new non-executive directors to the BGS Board.

Prof Carol Frost, professor emerita of the faculty of geology and geophysics at the University of Wyoming, and Dr Jenny Pyper, former CEO of the Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland and interim head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, will take up their positions on the BGS Board from 1 March 2023.

They succeed David Simpson and Dr Donna Kirkwood, who will step down from the BGS Board at the end of February 2023, having served since its formation in 2018.

Alongside these appointments, NERC has reappointed Sir Keith O’Nions as the BGS Board Chair until September 2025.

Prof Carol Frost

Carol earned her BA from Dartmouth College and PhD from Cambridge University, both in earth sciences, and joined the faculty of geology and geophysics at the University of Wyoming in 1983. She became a professor emerita of the university in 2020. Carol served as division director for earth sciences at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. from 2014 to 2018, overseeing the merit review process for basic research and education awards to scientists at universities and research institutions in the United States.

In 2006, Carol became the founding director of the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming, where she implemented the strategic plan for the school and launched a major research programme in carbon sequestration. Prior administrative positions include vice president for special projects, associate provost and associate vice president of research, all at the University of Wyoming.

A fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, Geological Society of America, and the Geochemical Society, Carol is also a past president of the Mineralogical Society of America, chair of the American Geophysical Union’s publications committee, and a councillor for the Geological Society of America.

Carol’s current research focuses on the Precambrian evolution of the continental crust and granite petrogenesis.

Dr Jenny Pyper

Prior to her retirement in September 2021, Jenny served as the interim Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) and secretary to the Northern Ireland Executive, the first woman to occupy the role in the 100-year history of the service. She led an organisation of some 23 000 civil servants for 10 months, delivering public services across Northern Ireland (NI) during some of the most difficult periods of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A geography science graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, Jenny joined the NICS from university and was appointed in 2004 as the Director of Energy Policy for NI  where she managed policy and legislative responsibilities in relation to the electricity, gas and renewable energy industries for over six years. This included leading the creation of the ground-breaking Single Electricity Market (SEM) on the island of Ireland in 2007. Jenny was subsequently promoted to deputy Permanent Secretary with responsibility for urban regeneration and community development across NI.

She left the NICS in 2013 to become Chief Executive Officer of the Utility Regulator, responsible for the economic regulation of NI’s electricity, gas, water and sewerage industries. Amongst other roles, Jenny oversaw the Gas to the West project, which significantly expanded the gas network across NI, as well as significant investment in renewable electricity technologies including substantial changes to the capacity of the all-island electricity grid. Appointed jointly by Ministers in both NI and the Republic of Ireland, she served for seven years on the all-island electricity market regulatory body, the SEM Committee.

Jenny has been Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council for Ulster University since July 2020.  The university recognised her contribution to public services in June 2022 with the award of an honorary doctorate (DUniv).

Jenny is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London (FGS) and the Energy Institute (FEI).