Opportunities for Geoscientists in the Energy Transition - Nuclear Energy & Radioactive Waste

Energy Transition Strategic Science Theme Lead, The Geological Society

Bas has over 32 years of geoscience experience in the Energy Industry, having worked for Shell, Woodside and CNOOC International in a variety of senior management roles in Exploration, Appraisal, Development, Commercial and Business Development. His last role with CNOOC was as Vice President Exploration for Europe & Africa, based in London. 
Since leaving CNOOC in 2022, Bas has been a Business Development Consultant for EnQuest UK, via his own company Superb Energy. Bas has a B.Sc. in Physics (with Geophysics) and a PhD in Lower Crustal Seismology from Imperial College.

For the last 5 years, Bas has also volunteered as a mentor for A-level students at Surrey SATRO, a STEM educational charity. He runs an annual project on “The Global Energy Transition”. Earlier this year, he became the Energy Transition Theme Lead for The Geological Society, which is a part-time voluntary role.

Bas has a passion for the Earth Sciences and developing people to maximise their impact on the Energy Transition.

Senior Geologist, WSP

Gayle Plenderleith is an experienced geologist, specialising in the development of subsurface models through interpretation and integration of seismic reflection, wireline, core, field and geomagnetic datasets. Gayle works offshore and onshore UK geology, on radioactive waste disposal, infrastructure, offshore windfarm, and onshore renewable projects. 
She completed her undergraduate degree in Geology and Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen in 2016 and her master’s degree in Structural Geology with Geophysics at the University of Leeds in 2018, with a year working as a field instructor on the Isle of Arran in the year between. After a brief stint in construction services, remediating legacy coal workings in Leeds, she joined the British Geological Survey in 2019 as a petroleum geoscientist. While at BGS, Gayle moved into the radioactive waste disposal team. In December 2024, Gayle returned to the private sector as a geologist at WSP. 

Senior Consultant, Galson Sciences

Adriana is a Geologist at Galson Sciences, part of the EGIS Group, with 20 years of experience spanning industry, academia, and consultancy. Her background in sedimentology, stratigraphy, and regional geology has underpinned the evaluation of subsurface opportunities across both conventional and unconventional petroleum systems, with a geographic focus on the UK, North and East Africa, and North America.

Adriana holds a BSc in Geology from Imperial College London, an MSc in Exploration Geophysics, and a PhD from the University of Leeds. She began her career in the oil and gas sector, working on global exploration and appraisal projects, before transitioning into consultancy. This led to work across sectors beyond oil and gas, including carbon capture and storage, and more recently the nuclear sector, where she focuses on the geological disposal of radioactive waste. In recent years, she has applied legacy oil and gas data to the subsurface characterisation of host communities for the UK’s Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) Programme.

Assistant Professor & Interdisciplinary Fellow in the Centre for Energy Transition, University of Aberdeen

Dr Scott Doyle is a numerical plasma physicist and Head of the Plasma Science Research Group at the University of Aberdeen. His research focuses on plasma–surface interactions in extreme environments, with a recent emphasis on materials and processes relevant to nuclear fusion and advanced energy systems. Day-to-day, Scott develops predictive, multi-scale models that examine the complex behaviour of plasmas, surfaces, and reactive gas chemistries, enabling insight into erosion, deposition, and impurity transport over a wide range of regimes. Scott is particularly interested in the cross-pollination of numerical tools between sub-fields, utilising tools for semiconductor modelling to assess the fusion first wall,, where plasma-driven modification governs material lifetime, fuel retention, and impurity generation, addressing the practical concerns of building, running, and recycling a nuclear fusion reactor.