British Geological Survey HRA Gus Gunn to be awarded MBE
Andrew Gordon Gunn – known to all as Gus – has been awarded an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
14/10/2020 By BGS Press![Dr Gus Gunn](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Gus_Gunn_web.jpg)
Andrew Gordon Gunn – known to all as Gus – has been awarded an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
The list recognises the outstanding achievements of people from many disciplines across the UK. Mr Gunn has been bestowed this prestigious award for services to Environmental Research.
Formerly BGS’ Principal Economic Geologist, Mr Gunn became an Honorary Research Fellow earlier this year.
Much of Mr Gunn’s UK work was carried out as part of the now legendary BGS Mineral Reconnaissance Programme where he worked on a wide variety projects from Shetland to Devon via the Dalradian of the NW British Isles.
Mr Gunn’s breadth of international work for BGS is long and impressive, including major mapping and mineral exploration programmes in Bolivia and Ecuador. Mr Gunn spent many weeks in the field in wild and remote Andean terranes. He was also a major contributor to the BGS programme in Africa over the years, from Mauritania to Ethiopia, Botswana to Liberia
Between 2007 and 2012 Mr Gunn was head of the BGS Metallic Minerals team, leading the radical shift from researching ‘traditional’ base and precious metal deposits (such as copper and gold) into the much less well known area of critical metal deposits. This move put BGS at the forefront of research on this topic in the UK and Europe, as well as securing Mr Gunn’s place as the leading UK expert on criticality assessment and metal supply security. Mr Gunn has provided advice on critical metals and security of supply to the UK Government and Parliament, the EU, NATO, the International Energy Agency and industry, Latterly advising colleagues at the Faraday Challenge and Innovate UK on how to meet the raw material challenges associated with the development of UK manufacturing capacity for electric vehicles.
I am delighted, highly honoured and pleasantly surprised to receive this award. I would like to thank all the people I have worked with over many years, both inside and outside BGS, and especially those who recommended me for this honour.
With rapidly growing demand from new and green technologies there is major concern about the so-called critical metals essential for low carbon technologies, such as clean energy and transport. I have been part of the BGS team working in this field since 2008 and we are now a key global player. I am sure this will continue in the future.
Gus Gunn
I’m thrilled at Gus being awarded an MBE. He is universally admired and respected in the field of minerals and there is a no more deserving person to receive this honour.
Karen Hanghoj, BGS Director
Relative topics
Related news
![Landslide aftermath. © Timo Volz, Unsplash](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/landslide-aftermath-timo-volz-unsplash.webp)
Studying multi-hazards from space
25/07/2024
A new European Space Agency-funded project will study the effect earthquakes have on occurrences of other natural hazards in the long-term.
![Scottish river in low flow. © Paul Glendell](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/scottish-river-in-low-flow.webp)
Warnings for Scottish farmers and distillers as new data indicates climate change may double number of droughts
23/07/2024
The agricultural and distilling sectors could face significant challenges after research finds the number of droughts in Scotland may double in the next 25 years.
![North Sea Transition Authority](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NSTA_image.jpg)
National Hydrocarbons Data Archive files now accessible through the National Data Repository
15/07/2024
Offshore well and survey information held within BGS’s archive have now been transferred to the North Sea Transition Authority’s National Data Repository to enable greater access.
![Seabed geomorphology from part of the central area of the Offshore East Anglia seabed map. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/seabed-geomorphology-offshore-East-Anglia-seabed-map-feature.webp)
New research reveals the secrets of the seabed off the East Anglian coast
11/07/2024
New geological map will help in the hunt for new renewable energy opportunities whilst protecting delicate marine ecosystems.
![GitHub logo](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GitHub_logo.jpg)
Update released for BGS open-source database software, ETL Helper
09/07/2024
The software tool helps simplify the process of data transfer into and out of databases.
![Screenshot of the AGS4 file utilities tool and API with map markers over the UK.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ags4-file-utilities-and-api.webp)
Update to BGS’s AGS file utilities tool released
19/06/2024
BGS has released significant updates to its online tool for validating geotechnical data held as AGS files. The update includes improvements to the tool’s user interface and the ability to convert AGS data into MS Excel files.
![Murrayfield Stadium located in Edinburgh, Scotland - © Thomas Feige / iStock.com](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Murrayfield_Stadium.jpg)
Quake it off: Taylor Swift concerts shake Edinburgh
13/06/2024
Seismometers around Edinburgh were triggered by the rapturous Murrayfield crowds over the weekend.
![Visitors taking part in the demonstration in BGS’s conference suit. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/P1051253-sized.webp)
BGS opens its doors to visitors at its Open Day in Keyworth
12/06/2024
BGS hosted its bi-annual Open Day on 8 June 2024, welcoming more than 1000 visitors to its headquarters in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire.
![Geologists at St Cyrus Beach. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_20240222_122824.webp)
BGS to update geological maps of Strathmore
10/06/2024
A three-year project has begun to revise geological maps of Strathmore, which were last surveyed nearly 100 years ago.
![Technical reports released by BGS. BGS © UKRI](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/DSSS8523-resized.webp)
BGS’s National Geoscience Data Centre releases over 8000 technical reports
05/06/2024
The technical reports, covering the full spectrum of BGS activities and subjects, were produced between 1950 and 2000.
![Hemerdon mine, Devon. BGS © UKRI.](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/tungsten-hemerdon-mine-hemerdon-devon-tungsten-west.webp)
UK Minerals Yearbook 2023 now available to download
04/06/2024
The latest edition provides essential information about the production, consumption and trade of UK minerals up to 2022.
![Map showing rock type and lithology](https://www.bgs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/data-from-bgs-geology-625k.webp)
BGS announces collaboration with Ordnance Survey
29/05/2024
Ordnance Survey and BGS have teamed up to add a range of geological data products to the OS Data Hub, making it easier for users to access and use geospatial data.