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The SAGES Executive Committee (ExCom)is responsible for strategy and policy, financial control, liaison with management at member institutions and individual members. Membership comprises: Director; one representative per full member institution; Graduate School Director; chaired by institutional member on a rotating basis. ExCom meets on a 6-monthly basis in combined meetings with RICom.
Professor Mark Inall

Professor Mark Inall

SAGES Director

Professor Inall is a member of the Executive Committee in his role as SAGES Director.

Professor Inall is Associate Director and Principal Investigator in Physical Oceanography at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

Professor Inall gained his BSc in Physics from the University of Edinburgh, and gained his MSc and PhD in Physical Oceanography from the University of Southampton. He has undertaken research activities at Universities of Cambridge, Bangor and Victoria (BC).

Since 1998 he has led a marine physics research group at SAMS, with more recent responsibility for directing the Institute’s research portfolio. He co-developed Scotland’s first Marine Science BSc for the University of the Highlands and Islands. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and is Honorary Professor in the College of Science & Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Brice Rea

Professor Brice Rea

SAGES Executive Committee Chair and University of Aberdeen committee member

Dr Brice Rea is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in the Department of Geography and Environment.

His research interests include:
Glacial and periglacial geomorpholog/geology
Glacial tectonics
Glacier-climate interactions
Long-term landscape evolution in passive glaciated mid- and high-latitude margins.

Professor Nia White

Professor Nia White

Abertay University Executive committee member

I am Head of the new pan-University Graduate School (launched in September 2014) and was previously Head of the School of Science, Engineering & Technology at Abertay University. The Graduate School is an essential component of our new R-LINCS (Research-Led Innovation Nodes for Contemporary Society) Research and Knowledge Exchange Strategy, to grow our RKE capacity and research excellence. All Postgraduate students, both taught and research, as well as research and academic staff, have access to the Graduate School which provides a comprehensive training programme within a central physical location of flexible working spaces, open to the entire research community, to promote integration and inculcation of an inter-disciplinary ethos.

I graduated from University College Cardiff in 1987 (BSc Hons Microbiology) and the University of Wales College of Cardiff (PhD SERC/CASE ICI Biological Products) in 1992, with a thesis entitled the ‘Biotechnological implications of the ecology and developmental biology of selected higher fungi’. I have over 20 years of research experience in Microbiology and Mycology, particularly on Serpula lacrymans, aspects of the ecology and biology of other wood and soil fungi, and on modelling the growth and interactions of filamentous fungi. I am driven by curiosity and the joy of working collaboratively.

I am particularly passionate about multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, and was involved in the development of SIMBIOS at Abertay – an environmental sciences research group with an interest in complex systems and the use of modelling methodologies, to gain a better understanding of these systems applied across a wide range of discipline areas (from epidemiology to soil microbiology and everything in between). Our new University Research and Knowledge Exchange Strategy R-LINCS is an extended, accelerated and enhanced expression of this approach.

I am Chair of the Self Assessment Team that led the Abertay University application for Athena SWAN bronze award.The Athena SWAN Charter recognises commitment to advancing women’s careers in employment in academia.

Dr Tracy Shimmield

Dr Tracy Shimmield

BGS Executive Committee member

Tracy is a marine geochemist, who joined BGS in October 2016 as Co-Director of the Lyell Centre. International engagements have been a feature of Tracy’s career and she has spent time in Papua New Guinea and South America advising on mine waste management.
Dr Simon Cook

Dr Simon Cook

University of Dundee Executive committee member

Dr Simon Cook is a Lecturer in Physical Geography at the University of Dundee. His research interests include glaciology, geohazards and the geomorphology of mountain environments. Much of Simon’s work focuses on understanding the mechanisms that shape landscapes (including glacial, fluvial and mass movement processes), as well as the response of glacial environments to cliamte change, including geohazards and risks posed by deglaciation (e.g. glacial outburst floods, landslides and water resource issues).
Professor Bryne Ngwenya

Professor Bryne Ngwenya

University of Edinburgh Executive committee member

Bryne Ngwenya is a Personal Chair in Microbial Geochemistry and interim Head of School for the School of Geosciences.
Professor Martin Lee

Professor Martin Lee

University of Glasgow Executive committee member

Martin Lee Chair of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of Glasgow, and Head of the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences. The main themes of his current research are on understanding the early history of the Solar System by studying C-type asteroids, and describing the evidence for past water on Mars. For this work he uses high-resolution electron microscopy and ion microprobe techniques.
Dr John Howe

Dr John Howe

SAMS Executive committee member

John Howe joined the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in 1998 moving to Oban from a post-doctoral research post with the British Antarctic Survey. He has a PhD from the University of Southampton in marine geology and a degree in Geology from Derby University. In his current role of Senior Lecturer in Marine Geology he has been head of the Biogeochemistry and Earth Sciences department, is currently Degree Program Leader and is supervisor for a number of research students. Currently he sits on the steering group of the Marie Curie International Training Network (ITN) Glaciated North Atlantic Margins (GLANAM) project and the NERC National Capability Marine Environmental Mapping Program (MAREMAP). His research focus is on marine geomorphology and habitat mapping, Quaternary ice sheet history, glaciomarine environments and the use of autonomous underwater vehicles in marine mapping. He has worked in the Arctic and Antarctic examining marine sediments as archives of long-term environmental change. He has 91 published outputs from peer-reviewed science papers to magazine articles and book chapters. Current projects include the use of AUV’s in the Arctic and in the Patagonian fjord region of Chile. He is a keen sub-aqua diver, and is a scientific diver with the National Facility for Scientific Diving at SAMS as well as helping to run the student diving club.
Dr Tom Cowton

Dr Tom Cowton

University of St Andrews Executive committee member

Tom is a lecturer in physical geography, specialising in glaciology. He joined the University of St Andrews in September 2016 after three years as a NERC funded postdoctoral research associate at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Sheffield. He obtained a PhD in glaciology, also from the University of Edinburgh, in 2013 and a BA in Geography from the University of Cambridge in 2008.
Dr Christian Schröder

Dr Christian Schröder

University of Stirling Executive committee member

Senior Lecturer

My overarching interest lies with the (bio)geochemical iron cycle and how it is linked to the cycling of other elements such as carbon, sulphur or phosphorus. My Research ranges from the interaction of minerals, microorganisms and contaminants in the groundwater to aqueous mineralogy and geochemistry on Mars. I strive to foster cross-fertilisation between the environmental sciences and planetary exploration.

Professor Neil Simco

Professor Neil Simco

University of the Highlands and Islands Executive committee member

Professor Neil Simco is Vice-Principal (research and Impact) holding leadership responsibility for the oversight of research and knowledge exchange activity across the university. This involves oversight of all aspects of the university’s strategy in research and knowledge exchange, preparations for the REF 2021, the university’s graduate school, quality assurance and enhancement and the development of research-teaching linkages.
Professor Andrew Hursthouse

Professor Andrew Hursthouse

University of the West of Scotland Executive Committee member

I am an environmental geochemist, applying an “earth-systems” approach to research which covers the transport/behaviour of pollutants in the environment (air quality, land degradation and remediation, and aquatic biogeochemistry), evaluating their impact on ecosystems and for human health.

These have links to policy and knowledge transfer activities which have been focused on the role and evolution of environmental management tools, issues of regulation and sustainability, and in the development of innovative R&D supports mechanisms for SMEs and large industrial operations across industrial sectors.

I undertook PhD and postdoc research on actinide geochemistry associated with nuclear waste processing facilities, developing analytical tools and applying them to study environmental transport processes. Subsequently my research has applied these principles in studies of waste impacts and management systems, resource recovery and exposure assessment. Fundamentally focused on understanding behaviour of potentially harmful elements and compounds in urban and rural environments in both terrestrial and aquatic systems.

I hold a Visiting Academic Post (100 Talents-High End Expert) in the Key Lab for Shale Gas Exploitation, Hunan University of Science & Technology, PRC.