Current activities
A selection of current activities from international and UK projects.
You can also keep up to date with BGS activities with:
2018
Climate change
Geochemistry
Geomagnetism
Groundwater
- Community water management for a liveable London
- Risks from fracking to be studied by top UK research team
- Fieldwork diaries: people, places and podcasts by Eleni Wood and Stacy Phillips
- New research to investigate human impact on the Yangtze River by Linghan Zeng
Marine geoscience
Natural hazards
PhD/MSc students
Research news
Urban geoscience
2017
Climate change
- Carbon capture and sequestration in peat in response to positive and negative feedbacks
- Investigating climate and environmental change in eastern Australia
Engineering geology
GeoAnalytics and modelling
Geochemistry
- An exciting new development in soil phosphate oxygen isotope analysis
- Environmental contamination from mine tailings in Africa
- Heavy metal and bacterial contamination of fish
Geohazards
PhD/MSc students
- Bye Bye to Jonathan Dean ...by Jonathan Dean
- Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project ...by Jonathan Dean
- Measurement and modelling human dermal bioavailability of potentially harmful organic soil contaminants ...by Jack Hort
- Success in Scotland: BUFI Science Festival 2017 ...by Olivier Humphrey
- My first field season: rocks, bubbles and low-cost technologies ...by Jo Miles
- First Year of my PhD: generating a better understanding of the UK's shale gas ...by Patrick Whitelaw
- Starting my PhD with the British Geological Survey ...by James Williams
- Past Global Changes Open Science Meeting, Zaragoza ...by Savannah Worne
Research news
2016
Geochemistry
- Examining the chemistry of mushrooms (24 October 2016)
- Are land-use decisions by African elephants influenced by environmental geochemistry? (16 May 2016)
Geomagnetism
Groundwater
- A new lake for Wales? (September 2016)
- Groundwater levels update (3 February)
- Is groundwater flooding likely now? (20 January)
- Has groundwater influenced the recent UK floods? (December 2015 – January 2016)
Informatics
Laboratories
Landslides
Marine geoscience
- MarineE-Tech cruise to Tropic Seamount (November 2016)
- Blue Mining cruise to the TAG hydrothermal field, Mid Atlantic Ridge (August 2016)
- Update on MarineE-Tech cruise to Tropic Seamount (December 2016)
NERC grants
PhD/MSc students
- From tiny seeds grow... by Leslie Bode
- Generating a better understanding of the UK's shale gas by Patrick Whitelaw
- Investigating human impact on Malaysian wetlands by Charly Briddon
- Iodine geodynamics by Olivier Humphrey
- IODP Expedition 346 by Sonja Felder
- Researching the effects of variation in the orbit of the Earth around the sun by Savannah Worne
2015
Information and data
- A picture speaks a thousand words: delving into GeoScenic
- Groundhog explores deep beneath our feet
- Managing Malawi's spatial data
- The week we raised a glass to ArcIMS
Earth and planetary observation and monitoring
- Gas sampling near hell
- Ups and downs of the South Wales Coalfield
- Welcome to Iceland fieldwork from above
Energy and Minerals
- Abandoned mines provide low carbon heating
- An Alaskan Road Trip
- Bringing lights, camera and action to Carbon Capture & Storage
- Drilling in to the Bowland Shale
- Filming for a BBC Scotland documentray on Oil Shales
- How much shale gas lies beneath our feet?
- Shale Gas & Fracking: The Science Behind the Controversy
Environmental geochemistry
- Ancient carbon beneath frozen Arctic lakes
- Chromium in crops
- Combatting malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa
- Continental drilling and a trip to Minneapolis
- Fieldwork to investigate human induced changes to an important Asian wetland
- Geochemistry brings societal benefits to sub-Saharan Africa
- Geoscience work experience at the BGS
- How do deep ocean trenches form?
- How quickly do streams lose their natural fizz?
- Isotopes and the bones and teeth of King Richard III
- Is there an environmental link to oesophageal cancer in Tanzania?
- Learning to drill
- Limnogeology and the biggest little city in the world
- New appointment in the Stable Isotope Facility
- Planning the analysis of half a kilometre of African lake mud
- Prehistoric eating habits
- Quality Accreditation in Inorganic Geochemistry
- Science-Based Archaeology within the Centre for Environmental Geochemistry
- Soil geochemistry for agriculture and health
Environmental modelling
- Ancient links between climate and vegetation
- Cosmic Colliery - an astronaut training centre in the South Wales Valleys?
- Data4Sustain — a webGIS renewable energy feasibility tool funded by Innovate UK
- Do a few sand grains reveal the 'lost' mid-Cretaceous deserts of North Africa?
- Emrys Phillips and the curious tale of slippery bottoms
- Fieldwork to investigate human induced changes on important Asian wetlands
- How quickly do streams lose their natural fizz?
- Out of Africa into Arabia's 'Garden of Eden'
- Planning the analysis of half a kilometre of African lake mud
- Random variables and field sampling
- Was Arabia once a lush paradise?
- Working together to combat environmental pollutants and inform agricultural strategies
Forensic geology
Geology and regional geophysics
- Out of Africa: Did humans migrate quickly and all-at-once or in phases based on weather?
- The paradox of plenty: BGS helps poor countries to manage the impact of minerals and hydrocarbons extraction
Geological Survey of Northern Ireland
- A World of Ice and Fire: the geology of the Game of Thrones
- Extreme field testers wanted; wimps need not apply
Geomagnetism
PhD/MSc students
- A PhD on understanding the properties of shale rocks and their ability to hold gases
- Caves hold clues to past climate
- Going South Part 1: How to get to the Falkland Islands
- Going South Part 2: Signy Relief
- Going South Part 3: Doing some science!
- Hidden landscapes in the city: the world of urban gardens and allotments
- Roaming Romania for Rare Earths
- Sea Shells on the Sea Bed
- Seismology, geodynamics and beautiful Copenhagen
- The International Ocean Discovery Program (UK) Student Conference 2015
- The start of my PhD research into iodine deficiency
- The Urbino Summer School in PaleoclimatologyViva the Viva!
School seismology
Urban geoscience
- Future visions for water and cities
- Hidden landscapes in the city: the world of urban gardens and allotments
- How to heat a city
- Verticality and the Anthropocene: Politics and law of the subsurface
General interest
- Adventures in Gondwana: misson complete
- Dinosaurs and disasters: a summer of pseudo-science
- Jedi geology or Sith science: the Force was calling
- The front line of geoscience - now with added Unesco
- The historic role of women scientists at BGS and a look at what is happening today
Events
- A new way to knowledge exchange
- Environmental Change ExchangeTalking Isotopes, state side
- Jellyfish are dish of the day at EnviroHack 2015
- Potential impacts of shale gas exploitation on groundwater
- Lyell Centre Breaks Ground
- NERC Impact Awards
- Records on the move
- Symposium on former gasworks in Ghent
- The Rock Whisperers: tales from the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival
- The BGS Open Day - 27 June 2015
- Why learn good science communication?
- 20th QRA Annual International Postgraduate Symposium
Guest blogs
2014
Infomatics, data management, records and archives
- Happy World GIS Day 2014
- Discovering Malawi's spatial data
- The Legacy of Piltdown Man – dead but not buried
- Random variables and poetry
- Random variables: directions, turtles and rocks
- Communicating uncertainty
Health
Geohazards and Risks
- Searching for Tsunamis in the Aleutians
- Aurora Borealis goes (Geo) Social
- Secrets of Ascension
- Eruptions on Ascension Island
- myVolcano erupts online
- Rift Volcanism
- The geomagnetic storm that wasn’t....
- Something’s happening to Magnetic North in Great Britain in 2014
- Sinkhole in the middle of the M2: February 2014
- Have Volcanic Super-Eruptions Impacted on the Course of Human History?
Marine Geoscience
- Wet Rocks and European-wide Ripples
- Counting success in the Baltic Sea
- Land beneath the waves
- Estimating the risk to the UK from landslide tsunamis
- Cold-water corals in the canyons off southwest England
- Good Vibrations
Geology, landscape, natural resources
- Happy as a hog in chalk
- The A-Team: Protecting Northern Ireland's Rocks
- Ghosts, ghouls and disappearing pools
- White Ribbons and Morris Dancing on the Jurassic Coast
- Tales from the underground
- Scotland's ‘400-year-old’ glacier
Groundwater
Minerals and waste
- An unscrupulous woolly investigation: a look at the more unusual work at BGS
- Diamond light
- The search for soil carbon
- Sun, Sand and Sabkhas
Climate
- Caves and climate change
- Health check reveals how glacier is declining due to warming climate
- Imaging inside a glacier; clues to a changing climate?
- One of our ecological footprints
- BRITICE-CHRONO — improving ice sheet forecasting in a warming world, to predict sea-level rise
Staff introductions
- Rachel Bell – a tenacious hydrogeologist
- Rob Ward - a Groundwater Guru
- Caroline Graham - a rock (star) physicist
- Tim Kearsey - a curious sedimentologist
- Keith Ambrose - a geology champion
- Peter Hobbs – a pioneering engineer
- Stephanie Zihms – an inventive experimenter
- Leanne Hughes – a modern mapper
PhD/MSc Students
- South Georgia and ancient algal blooms by Rowan Dejardin
- Hidden hunger in Malawi by Edward Joy
- Isotopes add to ‘Anthropocene’ debate by Jonathan Dean
- Paper pride by Jack Lacey
- Food security in Malaysia... by Diriba Kumssa
- The Ohrid Sequel: Cheshire Mere by Jack Lacey
- BUFI Science Festival
- Spring into Iceland by Erica Dewell
- Ancient Climate Secrets by Jonathan Dean
Collaborations
- Lunar Mission One - Drilling on the Moon
- Using carbon isotopes to study Lake Baikal
- Laser scanning the Hell-Fire Caves
- Life above the subduction zone
- Taking the pulse of Himalayan glaciers
- Teaching earthquake hazard in India
- The Future is Africa
- New powerful mass spectrometer
Events
- Association for Geographic Information (AGI) Awards for Geospatial Excellence
- The Quaternary Research Associations 50th Anniversary Conference
- Colours, Shapes & Science of Iceland
- Geochemical processes during CO2 storage meeting
2013
Geology and landscape
- Active or decaying landscapes?
- A day in the field for the G-BASE Team
- Analysis fit for a King — Richard III gets the NIGL treatment
- Assynt Culmination Geological 3D Model
- BGS data available on Scotland’s Environment Web
- Geological mapping in the United Arab Emirates
- Tetrapod World: early evolution and diversity | TWeed
Data management, records and archives
Marine geoscience
- First 3D maps of West Scotland’s sea lochs
- Lake Ohrid deep drilling, first hole success
- Multibeam map of Windermere, Lake District, England
- International Continental Scientific Drilling Program
- Offshore in the Baltic Sea Basin
- Part 1: The International Continental scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) funding process
- Part 2: The International Continental scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) funding process
- Tiny fossils reveal evidence for climate change and melting of Antarctica
Shallow Geohazards and Risks
- Does the Ionosphere really hum?
- ESA Swarm mission
- Earthquakes, dams and archives
- LaMEVE erupts onto the scene
- Measurements help defend grid against space weather
- Remote monitoring of volcanic activity — the EVOSS workshop in AddisAbaba
- Volcanic Hazards in Tanzania
Natural resources
- David Willetts opens the National Geological Repository
- The potential for deep geothermal energy in Scotland
- Rock salt:an essential mineral that keeps the country moving
PhD Students
2012
Data
- BGS thin sections: 150,000th image taken! by Isla Simmons
- Crowdsource mapping for disaster management by Dr Charlotte Vye-Brown
Energy
Earth hazards
Groundwater science
Marine geoscience
Shallow Geohazards and Risks
- Comment on the L'Aquila verdict by Dr Roger Musson
- Earthquake Risk Reduction in Bangladesh by Dr Susan Sargeant
- The Frozen Deep & Roger Moore's eyebrows by Andy Farrant
- GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING
- The Million Death Quake
- Scott's South Pole scientific legacy | Observing the Earth's magnetic field
- Shrink swell and climate change
- Space Weather Alert | 7 March 2012
- VolcanoLIVE
Natural resources
- Gold, silver and bronze– Where do these metals come from?
- National programme of geochemical mapping and training in Nigeria
- Core sampling in Windermere - meccano, cheese wires and liquid nitrogen
- Cores to Climate – Do our lakes hold a clue to the past? by Dr Carol Cotterill
Outreach
- Preparation for the British Science Festival
- Open Day announced
- Mineralogist, Petrologist or Volcanologist?? Lorraine explains
- OPEN DAY in Edinburgh!!
- We raise the heat at British Science Festival
- Photos from the Archives... The Geologists' Association
- London Calling!! Lets shake rattle and rock!
Palaeontology
2011
Climate change and environment
Geology and landscape
- Glacial sediments under the microscope
- BBC Men of rock | The science behind the scenes
- BGS iGeology Voted Best App
- Structure and evolution of the East Midlands region of the Pennine Basin
- Surveying the Loch Lomond 'canyon' — a new navigation chart
Groundwater Science
Natural resources
- Geothermal paper | The measured shallow temperature field in Britain
- Metals, Mines & Mobiles (REE Risk List 2011)
- BGS joins pan European 'CGS Europe'
- Scotland's potential for North Sea carbon storage endorsed by major report
- The Southern Permian Basin Atlas (SPBA)
- Universities and Science Minister visits BGS Edinburgh | 10/02/2011
Shallow Geohazards and Risks
2010
Climate change and environment
- Glacier monitoring: BGS observatory at Virkisjökull, Iceland
- Eocene sand horizons & iron contamination mapping | Thames Basin streams
- Great Barrier Reef Environmental Changes Expedition
- Iceland's glaciers are shrinking fast
- Rare Viking burials found on the 'Olympic Highway' Dorset
Engineering and land use
Geology and landscape
- 300 million-year-old whale food found trapped in oil | Copepods in Oman
- Bronze Age Mediterraneans may have visited Stonehenge
- Engaging with geodiversity — why it matters | 2010 Conference report
- Geological mapping in the United Arab Emirates
- Getting to the bottom of Scotland's fjords
- Iceland and the British Isles: the volcanic connections
- New discovery of deep-water coral reefs in UK waters
- Scotland and the West Highland Way join the International Appalachian Trail
- Submerged landscapes | Underwater survey of Loch Eriboll, Scotland
Shallow Geohazards and Risks
- Fault-Line Living expedition
- Long-term monitoring of the Earth's magnetic field
- South Atlantic Anomaly and South Georgia Magnetic Observatory
Natural resources
- CCS workshop for NGOs | 2010
- Conserving Robert Burns | Historic stone matching
- Geological mapping to promote Malawi's mineral potential
- Groundwater resilience to climate change in Africa
- Nigerian geochemical mapping workshop
- North-west England drought 2010 | BGS groundwater data
- Oil hopes dashed
- Peak metal: Scarcity of supply or scare story?
- Rare earth elements: a beginner's guide from the BGS
- Rock salt:an essential mineral keeps the country moving
- Storing carbon dioxide beneath the Moray Firth explored
Technologies and information
2009
Geology and landscape
Natural resources
Our strategy
Research topics
Other research
See also
External links
BGS on YouTube
BGS on Twitter
BGS on Facebook
