Committee

John Henry (Chair)

Originally from Ontario, Canada, John came to Europe to study at ITC (Institute of Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences), Netherlands in 1972. On graduating, he moved to Ove Arup and Partners, London, where he established the Air Photo Interpretation section which produced preliminary geological maps to guide ground investigations for civil engineering projects, principally to identify difficult ground conditions and potential geohazards. During his 30 years with Ove Arup, he travelled extensively, mainly in Africa and the Middle and Far East. In the UK, his work on ground conditions frequently involved historical research into mining, past industries and land reclamation, and strayed into archaeology. In retirement, John combines geological consultancy services and his online business (Nineteenth Century Geological Maps), dealing in early geological maps, sections, figures and books.

Dr R F (Bob) Symes OBE (Vice Chair)

Bob is a former Keeper and Head of the Department of Mineralogy at the Natural History Museum London. Though retired, he is still delivering many lectures on various aspects of the geological sciences. He has a long research interest in the minerals and mineral deposits of Great Britain and Europe. Particular interests centre on the secondary alteration of metalliferous deposits and the alteration of igneous rocks. He is author of numerous scientific/technical papers and reports. Popular publications include Dorling Kindersley EyeWitness Guides for Rock and Mineral, and Crystal and Gem, as well as books on the Minerals of Cornwall and Devon, and the Minerals of Northern England. He is past president of the Geologists’ Association and the Russell Society. The current focus of his interest is the mineralization and mining history of SW England and the history of collections.

Leucha Veneer (Secretary)

Biography and photograph to follow.

Beris Cox (Treasurer)

Beris Cox joined the Geological Survey in 1969 having graduated from the University of Wales (Swansea). Amongst the Survey's graduate intakeof that year was John Thackray through whose friendship her latent interest in the history of geology and antiquarian books was nurtured. Her Survey work as a specialist in Jurassic palaeontology and stratigraphy proved a rich feeding ground for this interest and she was a member of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History from 1973 to 1986 and has been a member of HOGG since 1997. She gained her PhD (on Jurassic ammonites) from the University of London (Queen Mary College) in 1981 and has been a chartered geologist since 1992. With the Survey, she was based in London, then Leeds and finally Keyworth from where she took early retirement in 1998. Since then she has continued to write on Jurassic topics and is currently an editor for the Palaeontographical Society.

Tony Brook

(photograph to follow)

Tony Brook managed to survive the rigours of an old-style grammar school education in the 1950s to gain a place at Manchester University. He read for an Honours degree in Geography with subsidiary Geology, graduating in 1963. He then went to America for graduate study. He returned with an MA and worked for 30 years in a variety of jobs but, on retirement, decided to return to his intellectual first love researching and writing about aspects of geology. He is currently both an Extra-Mural Tutor and a part-time D.Phil student researching 'The Retail Revolution – Myth or Reality?' at Sussex University.

David Earle

David has a first degree in engineering geology and Masters in marine geotechnics and in geotechnical engineering. He is a chartered geologist and chartered engineer, and worked for many years at Wimpey Laboratories undertaking site investigations, hydrogeological work and materials surveys in the Middle East, Africa, North America and Europe. He is now self-employed and acts as a consultant engineering geologist to an environmental consultancy.

He has had a long-term general interest in the history of geology and especially in the history of applied geology and how this relates to social and industrial history. A particular interest is the history of mining and how this affects present day development issues. The history of marine geology is a developing interest. He has recently completed an Open University degree in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. He is a Portsmouth supporter and Hampshire CC member.

Tom Hose

Tom Hose initially trained as an earth scientist, with a BSc (Hons) in geology and geography (University of London), and is a Fellow of the Geological Society. He has a PGCE (University of Liverpool) in secondary geography and science education and an MA in Museum and Gallery Administration (City University) with a dissertation on the history of museum education. He undertook extensive fieldwork in the UK, Europe and the USA for his ground-breaking geotourism doctoral thesis (University of Birmingham). He has authored chapters for four Geological Society books and a major European geoconservation text, together with other book chapters, reports, articles, and conference papers on geotourism and geo-interpretation. He was the commissioning editor for a special volume on geotourism and geoconservation for the journal Geoheritage. His geotourism research ranges from interpretative provision evaluation to the history of landscape-based tourism. He frequently contributes, often by invitation, keynote conference addresses and practitioner workshops in the UK and Europe.

Tom has worked in museums (in curatorial and education posts, lastly as a head of service), schools (lastly as a head of geology) and universities (lecturing on leisure and tourism studies, with a special interest in arts, heritage and countryside management). He has been much involved in geoconservation schemes, such as the National Scheme for Geological Site Documentation and that for Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Sites (of which he is a Member of its Executive Committee and edits its national newsletter), over many years. He is also a Council Member and trustee for the British Institute for Geological Conservation. He is an Honorary Research Associate in the School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol. He has extensive experience as a geologist and field naturalist, with considerable expertise in natural heritage conservation and environmental education. He is also an accomplished photographer with a strong commitment to outdoor recreation, bushcraft and the development of young persons through outdoor experiential learning.

Richard Howarth

Richard is a geologist specializing in the statistical interpretation of geological and geochemical data and, more recently, the history of the use of quantitative methods in geology and early geophysics. He took his BSc and PhD at the University of Bristol and subsequently worked for Shell International, the Applied Geochemistry Research Group at Imperial College London, and British Petroleum. He is now Honorary Professor in Mathematical Geology at University College London. He has been awarded the Murchison Fund of the Geological Society, the Krumbein Medal of the International Association of Mathematical Geology and the Richardson Award of the Geologists’ Association.

Cherry Lewis

Dr Cherry Lewis has an interest in the history of medicine and science, specifically the history of geology on which she has published several books. She has previously served on the HOGG committee and was its Chair from 2004-2007. She has recently retired from the University of Bristol where she worked as an editor and press officer.

Tom Sharpe

Details to follow