Profile

My CV

• Education:

  I went to a state school in Yorkshire and stayed there to do my A Levels.

  I’ve been to a few universities. I studied Geology and Geochemistry at Manchester University and then moved to Birmingham University to research Environmental Pollution. More recently I studied Applied Hydrogeology part time at Newcastle University.

• Qualifications:

  I did O’levels, which are old fashioned GCSEs.  I’m old! I have 9 of those including Maths, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, English, French, etc…

  I have A’Levels in Maths, Chemistry and Geology as well as General Studies (which was a mix of all sorts of things from Art to Technology I think).

  I have a BSc in Geology and Geochemistry from Manchester University

  I have an MSc in Applied Hydrogeology from Newcastle University

  I have a PhD in Environmental Pollution from Birmingham University, my subject was on how soil and particular organic pollutants, called phenols, interact.

• Work History:

  Whilst studying geology as an undergraduate in one summer holiday I got a job working in the geology department of a potash mine. This involved me helping the site geologist process samples from the working faces and forward plan the works to follow the ore seam. I got to work above and below ground. Below ground meant 1000 m deep and several km under the North Sea! The working conditions underground were like nothing I expected. Health and Safety being a major concern but it was hot with freshly mined rock being 40 degrees celsius. We often rode out to the working faces on conveyor belts and I got to help to set the explosive charges on one work face. It was an amazing experience and gave me a great insight into one area in which geology is applied in a working environment.

  After I finished at University I had a temporary job helping to recruit staff for the Forensic Science Service to set up DNA testing labs in Birmingham and London. It was pretty interesting to be involved in it learning about the processes and techniques needed to collect and analyse data to support crime scene investigations. Although I was just doing the admin and not the interviewing I learn a little so I understood back then what a PCR test is and saw how it could be applied to detective work.

  My first full-time job was a temporary contract working for BNFL. A company which at the time ran the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facilities and some other UK sites involved in the nuclear fuel cycle. It wasn’t a career I was aiming for and I am sure I was pretty sceptical about joining the nuclear industry, having previously been in Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. However, the staff interviewing my won me over and so I thought I was try it. They were great bosses to learn from as I adjusted to working and I got some great opportunities to gain knowledge and experience in how to assess the long-term impacts from radioactive waste disposal. I worked mostly on projects in the UK on BNFL sites but also did some work on sites in the former Soviet Union countries which was a different sort of challenge. Somehow before I knew I had been there for 7 years.

  I then moved to work for an Environmental Consultancy based in Edinburgh and by now I was specialising solely in radioactive waste disposal. Whilst continuing to work for UK clients now I also spent more time working on overseas contracts for organisations in Sweden, Poland, Romania, South Korea and Japan. Life in consultancy is much more varied than working in-house in industry and perhaps harder but it was great fun for the 4 years I was there. I did get to visit Sweden several times, spent 2 weeks in Bucharest training Romanian nuclear regulators and in the UK I got to go aboard nuclear submarines that had been taken out of service.

• Current Job:

  I work in the Environment Agency. My job title is Nuclear Waste Assessor. When I used to tell people this they would look at me blankly or with some fear that I may begin to glow. That makes me laugh – I definitely don’t glow – but also its a bit sad that people’s understanding of science can be limited.

  I decided to move to the Environment Agency because geological disposal – the disposal of the most hazardous wastes in a specialised engineered facility several hundreds of metres below the surface – was a growing topic of interest in the UK at the time. Some wastes will remain hazardous for several hundred thousand years and therefore there is a need for management solution and regulation of them to robust address the need to assure safety over geological timescales. I’d not worked on this subject area before and so was keen to. I also thought working for the regulator on that would be a chance for me to apply what I had learnt elsewhere. In terms of variety of challenge it hasn’t failed to disappoint. I have indeed been involved in geological disposal for over 10 years; scrutinising the proposals of the organisation responsible for finding a site and developing a facility; supporting regulation of wastes being prepared for disposal and stored until a facility is ready; and, engaging with members of the public to explain the Environment Agency’s role and answer their queries. I’ve been 14 years now so its become my longest job.

  From my 25 years of working on radioactive waste disposal its clear to my that you need a mix of skills and experiences to address challenges. If a single scientific discipline is being applied to radioactive waste disposal then that is probably wrong. The subject area requires detailed knowledge of physics, maths, chemistry, biology, materials science, engineering – of course geology and hydrogeology – but also climatology, project management, and social science disciplines as well as skills in communications and engagement.