![Professor John Underhill Professor John Underhill](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/s01ju2/avatar/hR3iorQFjSQ7TSLbcN2IJ2uf04ya2GkBqpWOFovz.jpeg)
Director - Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Transition
- About
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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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Reply to discussion on ‘Palaeogeographical evolution of the Rattray Volcanic Province, Central North Sea’, by Quirie et al. 2020 (JGS, 177, 718–737)
Journal of the Geological Society, vol. 178, no. 3, jgs2021-011Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates- [ONLINE] https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/jgs2021-011
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2021-011
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Palaeogeographical evolution of the Rattray Volcanic Province, Central North Sea
Journal of the Geological Society , vol. 177, no. 4, pp. 718-737Contributions to Journals: ArticlesUK Rockall prospectivity: re-awakening exploration in a frontier basin
Petroleum Geoscience, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 247-271Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2019-098
Structural and Stratigraphic Evolution of the Mid North Sea High Region of the UK Continental Shelf
Petroleum Geoscience, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 154-173Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe Rattray Volcanics: Mid-Jurassic fissure volcanism in the UK Central North Sea
Journal of the Geological Society , vol. 176, pp. 462-481Contributions to Journals: ArticlesProlonged dynamic support from the Icelandic plume of the NE Atlantic margin
Journal of the Geological Society , vol. 175, no. 3, pp. 396-410Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2017-088
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11803/1/Hardman_etal_2017b.pdf
Challenges of future exploration within the UK Rockall Basin
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference ProceedingsControls on Lower Carboniferous (Dinantian) Prospectivity in the Mid North Sea High Region
AAPG Search and Discovery , 11050Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDefining Prospective Play Fairways over the Southern Flank of the UK Mid North Sea High
AAPG Search and Discovery , 11052Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMobilizing Salt: Magma-Salt Interactions
Geology, vol. 42, no. 7, pp. 599-602Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/G35406.1