On 11 June, President Jon Gluyas warmly welcomed award winners, their families, friends and Fellows to Burlington House to celebrate President’s Day and formally present all 2025 Society Awards.
The celebrations began with Professor Jon Gluyas naming and congratulating some recent recipients of the many applied, industrial and academic geoscience awards made throughout the year by our Specialist, Regional and Affiliated groups, as well as the Society’s Journals. This highlighted the vast range of achievements and specialisms to be celebrated and the wealth of excellence across our geoscience community.
Professor Gluyas then introduced the Society’s Awards:
The presentations began with the President’s Awards, instituted in 1980 by Professor Perce Allen. These are given to early career geoscientists who show significant promise and are judged to be potential leaders in their fields.
This year’s President’s Awards were given to Dr Khushboo Gurung of the University of Leeds and Dr Divya Persaud of the University of Glasgow. With both Khushboo and Divya already demonstrating such a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm, celebrating President’s Awardees brought great optimism for the future of geoscience.
Next, we awarded the Early Career Funds to Dr Sam Wimpenny, Dr Francesca Willcocks, Dr Fred Bowyer and Dr Amy McGuire. President Jon Gluyas congratulated them for their excellent contributions to geoscience research into geotectonics, planetary science, evolution and past climate change and its application, in the UK and internationally. The contribution of the Early Career winners to the geoscience community and culture was also evident this year – with many award winners working to make geoscience more equitable and accessible to all through their outreach and mentoring activities.
President Gluyas then moved onto the Society’s Service and Outreach awards. These were presented to Clive Oppenheimer, Dr Joel Gill, Dr Kathryn Goodenough and Dr Adam Law for their fantastic achievements across outreach, public engagement, advocating for geoscience as a driver of international development and sustainability, alongside extensive service to the geoscience community. Their achievements and dedication to the promotion of geoscience worldwide impressed us all.
The focus then moved to the Society’s mid-career awards, given to Professor Katharine Hendry and Professor Gavin Foster. With expertise across oceanography, ocean-climate feedback and the impact of anthropogenic climate change on Earth’s systems, both Katharine and Gavin were deserving winners and have contributed geoscientific knowledge that is of critical relevance to society.
The final element (stage) of the ceremony saw President Gluyas confer the Society’s Career Achievement Awards. Dr Richard Brown was winner of the Dewey Medal for his significant contributions to geoscience through field mapping. Richard is world renowned for his exceptional ability to extract meaning from complex volcanic landscapes, and his expertise has been shared with, and inspired, many a budding field geologist through teaching and mentoring.
This was followed by the presentation of the Society’s four most senior (prestigious) medals: the Lyell Medal, the Murchison Medal, the William Smith Medal and the Wollaston Medal. In order, these were awarded to Professor Hugh Jenkyns, Professor Jenny Collier, Professor David Selby and our highest accolade, the Wollaston Medal, to Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar.
From seminal contributions to sedimentary geology, groundbreaking impact on the study of the oceanic lithosphere, globally recognised contributions to addressing the critical mineral resource shortage and Barbara’s exceptional wealth of research into ancient waters and the deep subsurface biosphere and their real-world applications – the senior medallists have had a significant influence on the furthering of geoscientific research. They have worked tirelessly throughout their careers, contributing pioneering knowledge to the geoscience community, and working to ensure the next generation of geoscientists feel equally inspired.
The four senior medallists then delivered a set of short talks:
'The intersection of the water and carbon cycles – discoveries in planetary habitability’
Prof Barbara Sherwood Lollar, our 2025 Wollaston Medal recipient
'Environmental change and drowning of Jurassic carbonate platforms: a paradox resolved?'
Prof Hugh Jenkyns, our 2025 Lyell Medal recipient
'What we do and don't know about oceanic crust'
Prof Jenny Collier, our 2025 Murchison Medal recipient
'The search for the “missing half” of a world-class copper resource'
Prof David Selby, our 2025 William Smith Medal recipient
These talks rounded off the day by sharing the profound and impactful discoveries made by the Society’s most senior award winners and was undoubtedly inspiring for those at any stage of their career that were in attendance.
Surrounded by so many exciting careers, fantastic achievements and examples of adventurous fieldwork, it felt momentous for the community to gather and share stories about the subject they share a passion for. Hearing first-hand about research that will impact our society for generations, it was a joyous reminder of the breadth of geoscience as a subject and its role in our understanding of the world around us, and the world to come. The award winners do a fantastic job of communicating this message and will undoubtedly continue to inspire the next generation of geoscientists.
We were honoured to then toast all our 2025 Award winners alongside their friends and families, Fellows and Society staff during a celebratory reception.
We were honoured to then toast all our 2025 Award winners alongside their friends and families, Fellows and Society staff during a celebratory reception.
