Director - Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Transition
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- School/Department
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Biography
John Underhill is Aberdeen University’s Interdisciplinary Director for Energy Transition and Professor in Geoscience and Energy Transition in their School of Geosciences. He is the academic executive director of the UK's GeoNetZero* Centre of Doctoral Training (CDT). His research interests focus upon the role of geoscience in the energy transition and use of methods and data in providing the best solutions and outcomes to deliver low-carbon net zero goals. Before taking up an academic career that has seen him hold posts at Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Aberdeen Universities, John worked as an Exploration Geoscientist for Shell and has also undertaken sabbaticals with bp in Glasgow and Norsk Hydro in Bergen. John helped lead Heriot-Watt's efforts to set up the Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Science and Technology and was the University's Chief Scientist. He was a board member of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) for three years and their President in 2011-12. John was the Chair of the National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA), a collaboration between Aberdeen University, Robert Gordon University *RGU), North-East Scotland College, Skills development Scotland and Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) in 2022-23. An unusual fact is that he also was a professional football referee who officiated in the top-flight matches in Scotland and Europe between 1994-2008.
*GeoNetZero = The Role of Geoscience in the Energy Transition and in addressing the Challenge to meet net zero emission targets
External Memberships
John populated the Scottish Science Advisory Council (SSAC) between 2019-2022, the leading independent scientific advisory body in Scotland and he continues to be part of the UK’s Subsurface Task Force (STF).
He is a Fellow of the Geological Society and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).
Prizes and Awards
John has been the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Geological Society’s Lyell Medal, their Energy Group’s Silver Medal and President's Award, the AAPG’s Matson, Beydoun and Grover Murray Distinguished Lecturer Awards, EAGE’s Alfred Wegener Award and Distinguished Lecturer Awards and the Edinburgh Geological Society’s Clough Medal.
- Publications
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Genesis of honeycomb buildups in the Permian Zechstein Group, Southern North Sea
Marine and Petroleum GeologyContributions to Journals: ArticlesPetroleum generation and migration through the Faroe-Shetland Basin - The role of Igneous Intrusions
Petroleum Geoscience, vol. 30, no. 2Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe search for "Jenyon's channel": The Missing link between the Permian basins in the North Sea
Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 160, 106619Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe role of compartmentalisation in carbon storage site selection in the Southern North Sea
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.202321024
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Older than you think: using U–Pb calcite geochronology to better constrain basin-bounding fault reactivation, Inner Moray Firth Basin, western North Sea
Journal of the Geological Society, vol. 180, no. 5, jgs2022-166Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2022-166
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/24370/1/Tamas_et-al_JGS_Older_Than_You_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Use of exploration methods to repurpose and extend the life of a super basin as a carbon storage hub for the energy transition
AAPG Bulletin, vol. 107, no. 8, pp. 1419-1474Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW OF THE UPPER PERMIAN ZECHSTEIN SUPERGROUP (Z1 TO Z3) IN THE SW MARGIN OF THE SOUTHERN NORTH SEA AND ONSHORE EASTERN ENGLAND
Journal of Petroleum Geology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 223-256Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jpg.12837
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
The Upper Permian Zechstein Supergroup of NE England and the adjacent Southern North Sea: a review of it's role in the UK's energy transition
Journal of Petroleum Geology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 383-406Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jpg.12843
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Using UAV-Based Photogrammetry Coupled with In Situ Fieldwork and U-Pb Geochronology to Decipher Multi-Phase Deformation Processes: A Case Study from Sarclet, Inner Moray Firth Basin, UK
Remote Sensing, vol. 15, no. 3, 695Contributions to Journals: ArticlesIntroduction to the AAPG thematic set on carbon capture, utilization, and storage
AAPG-CCUS Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Conference, pp. 1705-1709Contributions to Journals: Review articles