About us

During the summer Council meeting of the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) held on 13 and 14 June 2015 at Newcastle (UK), Professor Peter Styles (former President of the Geological Society) was awarded the 2014/2015 Medal of Merit for exceptional and distinguished contributions to the Federation and to the geological profession in Europe.

Peter Styles is one of Europe’s leading applied and environmental geophysicists. He has fully engaged with professional development and academic excellence within his field for some 40 years. Peter Styles graduated in 1972 from Oxford with a BA in physics and completed his PhD on plate tectonics at Newcastle University. His research has focused on geophysical investigations of plate tectonic phenomena and artificial phenomena associated with coal mining and most recently with microseismicity relating to shale gas and geothermal exploration and exploitation.

Since 2000, he has been Professor of Applied and Environmental Geophysics at Keel University, where he was also Head of the School of Earth Sciences and Geography and Director of the Research Institute for Environment, Physical Sciences and Mathematics. In his academic life Peter has played a leading role in the delivery of Earth sciences to several hundred undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as influencing teaching and research staff. He has served the profession in many ways, with considerable beneficial impact.

As the Geological Society’s Professional Secretary, he was the UK’s delegate to EFG Council, serving the development of the profession in Europe from 1997 to 2000. He was President of the Geological Society of London from 2004 to 2006, and has served at a high level on government bodies, spending two terms on the board of the British Geological Survey. He has advised the UK government on underground storage of nuclear waste. His work has raised the profile of geoscience within government and with the public, as well as in the advice he has given to industry.

He was also President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (Geology Section) for 2007. He is Editor-in-Chief of Geoscientist and currently conducting a global lecture programme as the first Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in Environmental Geophysics for the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE).

More widely, Peter has made a major contribution to current debate on shale gas and the associated hydraulic fracturing, making sure that policy makers and the public are informed of the facts that relate to shale gas exploration. His work in this regard is one reason why the UK Government supports shale gas exploration. Peter applies his knowledge of microseismic activity to geothermal exploration, where again factual knowledge of this process is vital to safe management of exploration and production.

He was awarded the William Smith Medal of the Geological Society of London in 2014 for outstanding research in Applied Geosciences and the Medal of Merit of the European Federation of Geologists in 2014/2015 for persons who have provided exceptional and distinguished contributions to the Federation or to the geological profession in Europe.