Alan MacDonald’s Biography
- 2018 : Individual Merit Scientist (IMP3)
- 2012 : Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee
- 2006 : Principal Hydrogeologist BGS Edinburgh
- 2001 : PhD, University College London, Community Water Supplies from Mudstones
- 1999 – 2006 : Senior Hydrogeologist BGS Edinburgh
- 1996 – 1999 : Hydrogeologist, WaterAid Oju Community Water Supply project Nigeria
- 1992 – 1996 : Hydrogeologist, BGS Wallingford
- 1992 : MSc (dist.) Hydrogeology, University College London
- 1991 : BSc (Hons) 1st Class, Geophysics, Edinburgh University
Research interests
- International groundwater development and management — particularly in developing countries in the context of poverty reduction and water security
- The resilience of groundwater systems to climate change and abstraction
- African groundwater and water security
- Groundwater and catchment science: floodplain hydrogeology, groundwater & flooding, upland and glaciated catchments
- Providing science and data to underpin groundwater management in the UK (aquifer properties, groundwater vulnerability mapping, nitrate contamination, groundwater monitoring networks, groundwater chemistry baseline)
Current projects and collaborations
- 2016 –2018 : Monitoring the impact of the 2015/16 El Nino event on water supplies in the Ethiopian Highlands
- 2015 – ongoing : Grofutures: Groundwater futures for Sub-Saharan Africa
- 2015 – ongoing : UPGro Hidden Crisis: understanding the reasons for poor functionality in groundwater hand pumps in rural Africa
- 2012 – ongoing : IGB Groundwater Resilience: A research programme aimed at strengthening the evidence base linking groundwater resources, climate variability and abstraction in the Indo-Gangetic basin
- 2011 – ongoing : Glacier monitoring: monitoring and characterising glacier hydrology in the BGS observatory at Virkisjökull, Iceland with a particular emphasis on groundwater
- 2011 – ongoing : Characterising groundwater surface water interactions in the Eddleston catchment : with Dundee University
- Baseline Scotland: a joint BGS/SEPA project to characterise the baseline chemistry and residence time of groundwater in Scotland
Published outputs
Professional associations
- Chair of the Chair International Association of Hydrogeologists Burdon Groundwater Network
- 2012 : Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee
- 1997 : Chartered Geologist, Fellow of the Geological Society and Ordinary Fellow of the Edinburgh Geological Society