Dr. Colin Summerhayes
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Dr. Colin Summerhayes is a marine geochemist and oceanographer researching climate change. He has been a Director of the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences for the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council; of the Global Ocean Observing System for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission; and of the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research for the International Council for Science. Currently an Emeritus Associate at Cambridge
University’s Scott Polar Research Institute, he is now helping to develop the case for the Anthropocene as a new geological time unit, as a member of the international Anthropocene Working Group. He has worked as a researcher and/or science manager for various academic institutions and governments, for the UN (UNESCO) and the International Council for Science, and for Industry (both BP and EXXON). He has lived and worked in Britain, France, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. He is a past-President and Honorary Fellow of the Society for Underwater Technology, and a past-Vice President and current Fellow of the Geological Society of London, as well as being a Member of the American Geophysical Union, The Oceanography Society, and the Challenger Society for Marine Science. Colin is a Chartered Geologist, and has also been a Chartered Marine Scientist. He is author or co-author of 380 scientific articles and reports. Most recent of his 12 books include ‘The Anthropocene as a Geological Time Unit’ (2019; ‘Paleoclimatology – from Snowball Earth to the Anthropocene’ (2020); and ‘The Icy Planet – saving Earth’s Refrigerator’ (2023). A member of Zero Carbon Guildford, and of the Guildford Environmental Forum, Colin lives in Dorking and works from home.