Chris Jackson appointed as Chair in Sustainable Geoscience

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is delighted to welcome Chris Jackson as Chair in Sustainable Geoscience.

Chris who is currently at Imperial College, is a University of Manchester alumnus having studied his Geology BSc and PhD here. With his research focusing on the application of geophysics to understand a wide range of geological processes, from sedimentary to magmatic, he will be fundamental in further strengthening our carbon capture and storage research, leveraging his extensive industrial experience.

Chris also has the honour of presenting one of this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for BBC Four. In his lecture Chris will show us how the planet’s oldest rocks and fossils tell a story of radical climate changes throughout history and how the Earth’s finely balanced tectonic system – volcanoes – has controlled the level of carbon dioxide in the air. Now though, for the first time, humans are tipping this balance.

After completing a BSc and PhD in Geology at the University of Manchester, Chris lived in Bergen, western Norway, where he tried his hand at ice-climbing, sea kayaking, and sparsely bolted rock climbing routes. He then returned to the UK to take a full-time academic position at Imperial College.

His academic position has not limited his opportunities for further travel and adventure, with his geological fieldwork taking him to remote, and physically and mentally challenging locations, including the Argentinian Andes, the Borneo rainforest and the Sinai Desert in Egypt.

Chris is a passionate teacher and communicator with an abundance of ideas about blended learning and crucially about how we can extend the reach of our science to the widest possible audience, helping us to achieve our widening participation initiatives.

Chris will be joining the University in February 2021.