My first forays in to geology were, as I am sure is the case for most of us, collecting rocks and fossils on the beach. Several decades later I am surrounded by a plethora of samples which I have only recently learnt to label. Looking at this eclectic mix from the Archaean to the Holocene reminds me of why I got in to the oil and gas business. The earth is fascinating and the opportunity to study it professionally is surely a privilege. I have been fortunate to experience many aspects of our industry during my career beginning by studying in Leicester and then Leeds where I witnessed the twilight years of British Coal being their final student sponsorship. Betwixt these two cities I was based in Aberdeen for a short while working in wireline logging on exploration and production platforms. Then Amoco in London before joining Hampson-Russell, a Calgary based software developer who wanted in the mid-1990s to start a geoscience consultancy business in Europe.

As a geophysicist I was still interested in the rocks themselves and from that point onwards I have spent much of my professional working life in what is now collectively termed QI (Quantitative Interpretation) working for a variety of service companies and presently in my own company. The greatest buzz I get though is from sharing this passion for geoscience with others not only through industry courses, but also in schools, outreach events and impromptu discussions. Our industry has always struggled with its public persona, more so in the light of climate change initiatives and the poorly informed fears of fracking. It is up to us as individuals and as a society to provide clear, concise and balanced perspectives on what we do as an industry and to remind people of the importance of what we have done in the past and will do in the future. The UK oil and gas sector will have to transition to different energy production business models, but we can see this coming and we should be prepared to manage that evolution to avoid repeating the demise we saw with the UK coal industry.

I hope that I bring to the society a unique perspective that represents a broad spectrum of the society’s membership. I’ve spent time in academia, worked offshore, been an oil company interpreter, worked in service companies and as a consultant in the UK and overseas. I’m a geophysicist with a strong geological bias and for any petrophysicists out there I can do a passable shaley-sand analysis and gas correction. Whether you are embarking on a career in geosciences or supping a jar chatting fondly with fellow retirees about how much better coloured pencils were it would be an honour to nurture the legacy of the society and ensure it continues to grow its membership and offering. We are perhaps emerging from the most challenging time our profession has ever seen in the UK, but providing you with events, courses, conventions and most importantly contacts the society will give you the best possible support to adapt and thrive. We’re a team – lets work together to make sure there’s still something to play.