BGS Global Geoscience 2014-15

2014 has witnessed growth and investment in BGS applied and integrated research overseas, with continuation of ongoing programmes and exciting new starts in a number of countries. To aid in this development I am delighted to announce that BGS Global has been joined by Kathryn Goodenough as my deputy and by Jenny Forster who will co-ordinate overseas projects through business development. The global drivers of energy and resource assessment, environmental concerns and urbanisation continue to inform and direct our activities. In particular, a growing realisation of the importance of responsible management of geoscience data to underpin governance and the use of underground space has led to an upsurge in enquiries about BGS information and data storage systems, including core storage facilities, digital delivery of web services and smartphone applications. Whilst it is easy to purchase the necessary hardware and software, understanding how it can be made to work in an effective digital data workflow is a major challenge for many national geological surveys. The ‘BGS way’, built around decades of effort and investment, demonstrates what is possible and is a model for others to explore. In Africa, one focus has been on environmental issues, in part supported by a Royal Society grant linking human health to agriculture, water resources and contamination from past mining activities. A new and exciting prospect in helping to rebuild the Geological Survey of Liberia was unfortunately curtailed mid-year by the ongoing Ebola crisis, although similar DFID-funded opportunities are beginning to open up in Africa. In East Africa, success with a new NERC consortium grant will ensure continued effort into volcanic research and risk mitigation in Ethiopia. In SE Asia, work on urban geology and development of database systems led to delivery of 3D models of Singapore’s geology. Through training programmes and discussion with partners, new projects are developing in Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. BGS has had a long and fruitful partnership with KIGAM in South Korea. After signing an MOU, technical collaboration and joint training are now ongoing across a number of disciplines including CCS, marine hazards, Quaternary research and digital mapping systems. India is a new and exciting area with ongoing DFIDfunded projects on water balance, and developing projects on resilience of ancient cities in the Gangetic Basin, the world’s largest foreland basin. In the Middle East, the closure of the UAE project was marked with the publication of a major volume on the Geological History of the region. As a result of 10 years of collaboration the UAE now joins the league of countries with a fully digital national geological dataset and is exploring delivery via web services and apps. In Oman, fieldwork and research into the world’s largest ophiolite complex has started to reveal new insights into subduction related processes. As a number of EU-funded projects came to a close in 2014 included herein is a brief summary of three projects that highlight the breadth of BGS work and the importance of integration and collaboration with our European partners. Finally, on 1st February 2015 the BGS spin-out company International Geoscience Services Ltd. ceased trading as BGS International (BGSi) and is now known as IGS. The company continues to perform well, focused primarily on collection, compilation, value adding, interpretation and serving of geodata to support mineral exploration.