Alongside the Geological Society's Awards, Medals and Funds, we are also proud to celebrate the accomplishments of our members. These awards are organised and judged independently by the groups, for the groups, and this year they were highlighted at President's Day on 17 June.
This year’s winners' achievements spanned the applied, industrial and academic sectors, showcasing the breadth of talent within our geoscience community.
The Geological Society has a range of groups for members, including Regional Groups, Specialist Groups, Affiliated Groups and the Early Career Network; they are a great way to network with a diverse range of peers in industry, society and geoscience.
We are very proud of all our award winners and invite everyone to celebrate their achievements with us!
Early Career Network
Run by our Early Career Network and Regional Groups, the Early Career Geologist Awards is an annual competition showcasing the skills of early career geoscientists. This year's final was held on 27 May at Burlington House, with six brilliant finalists presenting their work to a panel of judges.
The 2026 winner was Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries from the University of Cambridge.
Regional Groups
Mr Lai Kuen-wai was awarded the Workman-Malpas Medal 2025 by the Hong Kong Regional Group for his outstanding contributions to the geosciences in Hong Kong
Specialist Groups
British Geophysical Association
The 2026 Bullerwell Lecturer Award, a prestigious early-career honour in UK geophysics, was awarded to Dr Ualisson Donardelli Bellon, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Mineral Magnetism at the University of Edinburgh.
Geochemistry Group
The GG Postdoctoral Medal, awarded to individuals who have published outstanding research in a peer-reviewed journal in geochemistry, was awarded to Dr Lena Chen from the University of Bristol for their paper “Mineralogical controls of the oceanic nickel cycle," published in Nature Communications.
Geochemistry Group
The ECR Postdoctoral Prominent Lectureship award went to Dr Julia Neukampf, Research Associate in Planetary Science at the University of Manchester investigating how lithium and halogens behave during magmatic processes on Earth and in the early Solar System.
Engineering Group
The Glossop Medal went to Dr David Giles GCG, who delivered his Lecture at the Glossop Meeting last November.
Engineering Group
The 28th Glossop Award was presented to Chris Spence, Geotechnical Engineer at Fairhurst.
Congratulations again to all our award-winners and we look forward to celebrating your achievement next year!
More information on how to nominate colleagues for Regional and Specialist Group awards will be shared by the groups in due time.
Get involved
If you’re a member of the Geological Society, you can take part in your local Regional Group, based all over the UK, Hong Kong and now also Australia, as well as in our Specialist Groups on a range of topics.
If you would like to sign up for communications from your local group so that you can be made aware of upcoming events and activity, you can email the membership team at membership@geolsoc.org.uk and we can help.