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Editorial Team
The Sustainable Earth Scientist editorial team comprises accomplished and self-motivated students from around the world. The team is led by Dr Angus McCoss, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of our non-profit organisation. An impartial quorum from the editorial team selects the content that is published across our platforms and Professor John Underhill provides Academic Coordination.
Publication selection criteria are:
1) sustainable earth scientific approach,
2) emphasis on exploring solutions to climate change and/or the energy transition,
3) clarity of expression.
Our student editors build their scientific networks and gain valuable professional experience in their stimulating one-year roles. They are selected by the Editor-in-Chief after demonstrating good communication skills through their own video contributions to our initiative.
Dr Angus McCoss
Editor-in-Chief
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sustainable Earth Scientist, Angus studied Earth Science at Dundee University where he attained a first-class honours degree in Geology. He gained a PhD in Tectonics from Queen’s University Belfast (1987) and since then worked internationally in the energy industry, in subsurface exploration and applied technology. Angus has held executive and non-executive positions on several Boards, including eleven years on the Advisory Board of the Energy & Geoscience Institute (EGI Utah, 2008-2019), and recently became a Founder of dCarbonX Ltd, the pioneering decarbonisation exploration company, finding subsurface assets to enable the energy transition.
Hester Claridge
Student Editor
Having been raised in Cornwall and surrounded by the county's mining history, Hester was led to study a BSc in Geology at the University of Leicester. Upon graduating she has spent the last two years working for Cornish Lithium, an exploration company exploring for lithium in geothermal brines. The innovative and environmentally sustainable extraction of lithium introduced her to the potential for the sustainable extraction, harnessing and development of the world's georesources. She continues to pursue this path by undertaking an MSc in Subsurface Energy Systems at Heriot Watt University. Hester is also a strong advocate of women in the georesources industry sitting on the committee of both Women in Mining UK and Women in Geothermal UK.
Petros Neofotistos
Student Editor
Having attained a PhD in Structural Geology, Petros also studied and gained a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Geology and Geoenvironment, at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. For the past few years he has shared his time and effort between scientific research and education, the first involving brittle and ductile deformation, fault-slip analysis, micro-structural analysis and geological mapping, and the second covering a spectrum from an academic level, as a teaching assistant at the Geology Department of Aristotle University, to educating but also learning from children and teenagers at Noesis Science Center and Technology Museum, in Thessaloniki. He is currently investigating fractured aquifers in Athos Peninsula and the contribution of structural analysis to hydrogeological models and research. His aspiration is that his ongoing expertise contributes to a sustainable and energy efficient future.
Ben Roche
Student Editor
A geophysics PhD student at the University of Southampton, Ben specialises on gas migration, both beneath the seabed and in the water column. His research is geared towards developing techniques for the quantification of CO2 and methane flux from natural and anthropogenic sources through the use of both active and passive acoustics. His work has been primarily through the STEMMCCS project, an EU Horizon 2020 project designed to address the knowledge and capability gaps in approaches, methodologies and technology required for the effective environmental monitoring of offshore CCS storage sites. His ultimate goal is to meaningfully contribute towards a sustainable earth via scientific research.
Alexandra Comaniciu
Student Editor
Alex is a Postgraduate Mining Engineering student at the Camborne School of Mines, UK. She graduated in 2019, from Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, with a degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences. During her bachelor studies, she took a particular interest in deep-sea mining, geochemistry techniques, and development economics. Currently, she is a content writer for Spotlight Mining, covering events and environmental news in the mining industry, as well as media coverage for one junior exploration company. Alex is interested in bringing sustainable and innovative mine automation and design ideas while working with various stakeholders during mine life cycles. Alex is also the co-founder of WIM Germany, where she manages international relations as well as all social media content. She is currently working on the launch of the Organization's Metals and Materials Awareness project. Ultimately, Alex is passionate about the integration of ESG standards in both upstream and downstream sections of the mining industry.
Hannah Hartley
Student Editor
Hannah, a master’s student at the University of Utah, is studying the sedimentology of Lake Powell based on core images and samples, as well as deltaic architecture related to changes in lake level. Her research focuses on linking Lake Powell's sediment record to historical records; investigating how environmental changes are preserved in the sediment record will provide insight as to how well the rock record preserves environmental changes, including past climate change. Hannah is also a Williamson Fellow at the University of Utah. Through this program, she works with public middle and high schools to engage kids in geoscience and increase science communication. She proposes that understanding the geological past is key to humanity moving forward. Anthropogenic climate change is occurring on a time scale unlike anything seen in the rock record and insights into the influences on past climate change will help us mitigate it moving forward.
Prof John Underhill
Academic Coordinator
John Underhill is the Professor of Exploration Geoscience at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and the Academic Director of the UK Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), GeoNetZero, which addresses the role of Geoscience in the Low-Carbon Energy Transition and Challenge to meet Net Zero Emission targets. His research team are investigating the controls on Carbon and Hydrogen Storage sites in the UK Continental Shelf. John populates the Scottish Government’s Science Advisory Council (SSAC), UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)’s GeoEnergy Observatories (UKGEOS) Scientific Advisory Group (GSAG). He was a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Scotland’s Energy Future Inquiry team, the UK Energy Minister’s Technology Leadership Board and is on the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA)’s Exploration Task Force.
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Sam Head
Student Editor
Currently pursuing a PhD at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Sam previously studied at Royal Holloway University of London attaining a first-class degree in Petroleum Geoscience. As part of the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Oil and Gas and funded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) via the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF), Sam’s PhD project ultimately seeks to improve the geological understanding of CO2 storage, with implications for safe and effective CCS deployment, meeting carbon-emission reduction targets and extending the life of mature basins. The PhD study integrates seismic and well data to characterise the subsurface of natural CO2 accumulations and nearby petroleum fields, evaluating the geological elements and controls upon long-term CO2 retention. In the future, Sam aims to apply his geoscientific skills and knowledge in contributing toward delivering low-carbon energy and meeting the goal of Net Zero.
Natalie Chung Sum Yue
Student Editor
Natalie is an environmentalist and social entrepreneur born and raised in Hong Kong, currently pursuing an MPhil in Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford, as the Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholar. Inspired by a polar explorer since young, Natalie has devoted her life to climate action. At the age of 18, she co-founded “V’air Hong Kong” to promote sustainable local tourism for climate change mitigation. Natalie gained multinational exposure through working with the World Bank, United Nations, and Kadoorie Conservation on missions spanning Australia, China, Spain, the UK and the US. With substantial experience in climate education and sustainability assessment, Natalie was appointed by the Hong Kong Government as a youth member at the Council for Sustainable Development. She is also a founding member of the Hong Kong Youth for Climate Action (HKYCA). Natalie believes in the power of sustainable earth science in delivering net zero goals, which is fundamental for maintaining a just and safe operating space for civilisations to come.
Hilde Anna Koch
Student Editor
Hilde is a PhD researcher in the Department of Geology at Trinity College Dublin. She is a passionate geochemist, science communicator and environmentalist. Her research focuses on the chemistry of Irish Mississippian volcanic ash layers, which occur either below or above Irish zinc-lead deposits. Although one of these mines is the biggest Zn-Pb mine in Europe, there is still uncertainty about the timing of mineralisation. Understanding this timeframe is, however, essential to explore and find more Zn-Pb deposits. As Zn is partly used in green technologies, there will be a huge demand for Zn in the future. Due to the relative position of the volcanic ashes to these deposits, Hilde investigates if they can be used as markers to contribute to the understanding of the formation of the Irish Zn-Pb deposits.
Brenden Fischer-Femal
Student Editor
Brenden Fischer-Femal grew up in Eugene, Oregon, USA, got his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and is now a PhD Candidate at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a stable isotope geochemist generally interested in past climate change events and carbon cycle dynamics, specifically over periods of rapid global warming. He works to apply the lessons encoded in past global warming events to inform policy concerning modern climate change.
Sam Lopez
Student Editor
Sam is a PhD student at the University of Utah studying mercury, a widespread pollutant emitted during the burning of fossil fuels and various industrial processes. In aquatic ecosystems, mercury can be transformed to a bioaccumulative and neurotoxic form, methylmercury. Sam’s research focuses on characterizing methylmercury production and bioaccumulation within the Great Salt Lake, USA, a valuable habitat for millions of birds that has notoriously high levels of methylmercury. Sam is currently a Williamson Fellow at the University of Utah, an outreach program designed to engage youth in geoscience, increase public science literacy, and encourage diversity in the geosciences. Prior to his time at University of Utah, Sam obtained a bachelors in chemistry at Grinnell College where he took part in research focused on mercury cycling in agriculturally dominated wetlands. Sam is concerned about the effects of climate change, pollution, and other human impacts on natural systems, especially in areas near large population centers. He believes that geoscientists can contribute to a future where both natural systems and humans can thrive.
Michaela Dobson
Student Editor
Michaela is a PhD student at the University of Auckland / Te Wānanga o Waipapa, New Zealand. Her research investigates the oldest evidence of terrestrial life on Earth in 3.5-billion-year-old hot spring deposits in the Dresser formation, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. She uses modern hydrothermal analogues in other areas of the world (e.g. New Zealand's Taupo Volcanic Zone and Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A.), and younger Phanerozoic fossilised systems (Argentinian Jurassic deposits and Coromandel Miocene sinter), to draw comparisons. Her research in the Pilbara also contributes to work for Origin of Life studies of early life on Earth, and the possibility of life on other planets, such as Mars.
Michaela is passionate about outreach. She was the Outreach Coordinator for Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland (DEVORA). Now she focuses on promoting and educating the New Zealand public about Astrobiology. This includes outreach with schools in the Rotorua region, teaching and designing undergraduate Astrobiology courses, mentoring undergraduate students, and helping to develop teaching material for high school teachers. Her outreach often emphasises the importance of using Geology to understand the past, so we can better prepare for the future.
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