PROF DAVID ADAMS
Emeritus Professor in Urban Studies, University of Glasgow
& Land Commissioner, Scottish Land Commission
David Adams is a Board Member of the Scottish Land Commission and Emeritus Professor in Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow, having previously held the Ian Mactaggart Chair of Property and Urban Studies, before retiring from the University in 2019. During the course of his academic career, he has researched and written widely on state-market relations in land and property, with a particular focus on planning and land policy, real estate developers, speculative housebuilders, brownfield redevelopment, and place quality. David is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Royal Town Planning Institute, and the Royal Society of Arts.
MATT ASKIN
Senior Geo-Environmental Consultant, Ground Gas Solutions (GGS)
Matt Askin is a chartered scientist with over fifteen years’ experience in the UK environmental sector. With a background in both regulatory and consultancy roles, he has extensive skills in investigating and managing environmental challenges.
Matt has particular expertise in the investigation, monitoring, risk assessment and management of hazardous ground gases, with substantial knowledge of landfill, waste deposit and brownfield sectors. More recently he has been focussed on improving the environmental performance of the onshore oil and gas sector, specifically ways to reduce greenhouse gases and other associated emissions.
Matt is also a long-standing Fellow of the Geological Society and has served on a number of regional and specialist group committees, including the Society’s Environment Network. He has a keen interest in innovation and a proven track record of using new and repurposed technology to improve the environmental performance of activities, both for clients and wider society.
HUGH BARRON
Business Manager, Scotland, British Geological Survey
Hugh has over 30 years’ experience with BGS as a geologist and business development
manager. Hugh is currently focussed on supervising drilling at the UK Geoenergy
Observatories Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site. He has been actively
involved in geothermal feasibility work in Scotland over the last decade and co-authored the report reviewing the deep geothermal energy potential in Scotland for the Scottish
Government. Hugh has worked with a variety of commercial and academic partners on
minewater, hot sedimentary aquifer and deep geothermal feasibility projects in Scotland.
Hugh was recently seconded to the Scottish Government and has served on Scottish
Government expert groups on geothermal energy and unconventional oil and gas. He is a
Chartered Geologist and Chartered Scientist and is currently chair of the Geological Society Geoconservation Committee and a member of the Geological Society External Relations Committee. He is a former chair of the Association for Geographic Information Scotland.
HELEN BENNETT
Technical Team Leader, Commercial Reports Team, The Coal Authority
Helen studied Applied and Environmental Geology at the University of Leicester with research and work in the fields of mineral exploration, environmental monitoring and the socio-economic challenges of resource extraction. Helen joined the Coal Authority in 2014 and spent three years managing permit applications for works which intersected or disturbed the Coal Authority’s sub-surface property. Now leading on consultancy work in the Authority’s Development team, with a focus on safe and sustainable development on the coal field.
PROF ADRIAN BOWMAN
Professor of Statistics, University of Glasgow
Adrian Bowman is a Professor of Statistics in the University Glasgow. One of his principal research themes is flexible methods of regression and he is the joint-author of a book on this topic. He has been involved in a wide variety of environmental applications, most recently focused on spatiotemporal data. Current external collaborators include the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Shell (). The GWSDAT software tool (gwsdat.net) for modelling groundwater pollution was developed in conjunction with Shell. He also has a strong interest in the use of graphics to communicate the uncertainty associated with data and statistical models. Adrian has played a variety of roles within the Royal Statistical Society, he has chaired the Committee of Professors of Statistics in the UK, served as a member of the 2014 UK REF review panel and he has held various editorial positions, including joint-editorship of the RSS journal, Applied Statistics.
DUNCAN CARTWRIGHT
Associate Director, Atkins
Duncan is both a Chartered Geologist and Chartered Scientist and is the Technical Authority for Groundwater Protection and Remediation for Atkins in the UK. He has over 17 years’ hydrogeological experience in both clean water and contaminated land aspects and specialises in quantitative risk assessment and groundwater remediation. He has a wealth of experience working on both historic and operational industrial site helping clients manage contaminated land issues and reach successful agreement and closure with regulatory authorities. Duncan has developed detailed remedial strategies for projects ranging from small scale retail petroleum filling stations, through redundant oil storage and distribution depots to active operational refineries. He has also developed remediation strategies for former gasworks sites and military installations in the UK. He has provided support to clients both in the UK and abroad including Cyprus, Egypt, Nigeria and Mozambique.
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As well as supporting industry conferences, Duncan has provided bespoke hydrogeology training for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. He has developed company procedures and methods to make the best use of risk assessment techniques to develop robust yet achievable and pragmatic remediation targets. Duncan has built strong relationships with clients and regulators which have been invaluable in achieving cost effective and timely remediation close out on many projects. He is one of the founding members of RemSoc - the society for remediation practitioners in the UK.
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DAVID GEMMELL
Technical Director, AECOM Scotland
David is a Technical Director within AECOM’s Scotland team and has 20 years’ consultancy experience, predominantly in the contaminated land discipline although has also gained significant experience across other environmental disciplines and is a qualified environmental auditor. David has successfully project directed/managed in excess of 100 contamination related assessments, investigations and remedial projects at a variety of sites in Scotland and Western Australia including major rail and road schemes, major brownfield redevelopment schemes, nuclear licensed sites, mine sites, downstream oil & gas facilities, landfills, docklands, power stations and a broad range of industrial sites including speciality chemical plants. David is also a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager MCIWEM C.WEM, Chartered Scientist CSci and Chartered Environmentalist CEnv.
JEZ GITTINS
Principal Environmental Consultant, RPS Consulting UK & Ireland
Jez Gittins is an experienced geo-environmental scientist who has worked on environmental land investigation and due diligence projects for over 15 years in the UK and abroad. He is currently Principal Environmental Consultant at RPS Group, based in Edinburgh, where he leads the local geo-environmental team. Jez has experience working in both industry and consultancy who joined the contaminated land sector working for an American Oil Services Company performing geochemical integrity testing for environmental protection facilities which took him to refineries, terminals, airbases and military facilities across UK, Europe, North America and Australia.
In consultancy, Jez supports clients through the planning process, organising and project managing ground investigations and reporting on greenfield and brownfield sites for development. Jez is a Chartered Environmentalist, Chair of the Central Scotland Regional Group of the Geological Society, an assessor for the Institution of Environmental Sciences and a Trustee of the Scottish Geology Trust.
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ANDREW GUNNING
Managing Director, RSK@Stirling, RSK
Andrew has wide experience in risk management and mitigation in the water, energy, mining, construction and utility sectors and leads an experienced team of hydrogeologists, hydrologists, meteorologists and engineers in providing consultancy services which include environmental and climate risk management. Andrew is based
at Stirling, Scotland.
In addition to technical expertise in hydrogeology and geothermal energy, Andrew is
an experienced Company Director and has skills in leadership and innovation alongside commercial and project management expertise. He is educated to MSc level in applied geology (Newcastle University), has a Diploma in Company Direction (Institute
of Directors).
SARAH HAMILL
Contaminated Land Officer, West Dunbartonshire Council
Sarah graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Topographic Science from Glasgow University in 1996, and started her career as a Hydrographic Surveyor in the offshore industry. Sarah then returned to university, gaining a Masters in Environmental Studies from Strathclyde University in 2002. Sarah has since been involved in contaminated land management for both the private and public sectors with experience being gained in a variety of different projects ranging from small scale desk studies/investigations to large scale residential/commercial developments and remediation projects. Sarah was appointed as the Contaminated Land Officer for West Dunbartonshire Council in 2006. During this time Sarah has managed to progress the Council’s Contaminated Land Strategy through the investigation of a number of potential Part IIA sites and has subsequently overseen the successful remediation of a number of these. More recently Sarah’s main duties have been in relation to many of the large scale regeneration projects within the authority including the Former Carless Oil Refinery (only dual regulated Part IIA/special site in Scotland), EXXON Bowling Site and the Queens Quay regeneration project in Clydebank.
Sarah currently represents the Central/West Authorities on CLAG (Contaminated Land Action Group). She also attends the EPS Land Quality Advisory Group and was part of the steering group who produced the recently published EPS Land Contamination and Development Guide.
DR TOM HENMAN
Director, Geosciences, RSK
Dr. Tom Henman has over 20 years’ experience of contaminated land assessment and
remediation, gained in both consultancy and for a problem-holder. He is a Director based in RSK’s Glasgow office and is also responsible for leading technical quality within RSK’s 200- strong Geosciences business. Tom is a Chartered Chemist and a Chartered Scientist. He is also a registered Specialist in Land Condition (SiLC), a Suitably Qualified and experienced Person (SQP) under the National Quality Mark Scheme (NQMS) and a SiLC assessor. He has a keen interest in developing and promoting technical excellence and has been actively involved in industry initiatives led by AGS, CIRIA and CL:AIRE furthering the development of industry standards. He has represented the environmental consultancy sector on the Scottish Government Contaminated Land Advisory Group. Tom has collaborated with a number of universities, including the University of Strathclyde and the University of West of Scotland amongst others, on innovative research projects, co-authoring research papers.
DANNY HOPE
Regional Director, Hydrock
Danny Hope is Regional Director for Hydrock Consultants based in Manchester.
Danny has over 20 years land quality experience, including some of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects such as the Greater Manchester Waste PFI, Mersey Gateway and HS2. Danny specialises in site investigation, risk assessment, remedial design, planning and EIA support, earthworks, materials management and verification across all sectors. He is a Specialist in Land Condition (SiLC), Suitably Qualified Person for the National Quality Mark Scheme and a Qualified Person for the sign-off of Waste Code of Practice declarations. Danny is chair of the CIWEM Contaminated Land Network and CIWEM’s representative on the SiLC Professional Technical Panel. Danny has been utilising the CL:AIRE Waste Code of Practice since its inception in 2008 to promote the sustainable re-use of materials.
ALEX LEE
BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, FGS, CGeol, CSci, EuGeol, ASoBRA
Technical Director, WSP
Alex is a Technical Director at WSP with circa 23 years’ experience. Alex has previously been employed by WSP Remediation Ltd, ERM and British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL). He has a focus upon environmental modelling and hydrogeological investigation together with risk assessment (chemical and radiological). He has a masters in Environmental Monitoring and PhD in Geology. He is a regular presenter at domestic and international conference and until recently Chair of the Society of Brownfield Risk Assessors (SoBRA). He sits upon the UK National Brownfield Land Forum, the National Land Quality Mark Steering Group most recently the Scottish Contaminated Land Advisory Group. He is an accredited risk assessor including human health, permanent gasses, vapours and waters. Alex is a regular expert witness and a scrutineer for chartered geologist, chartered scientist and the UK SoBRA accredited risk assessor scheme.
PROF ALAN MACDONALD
Head of Groundwater and Resilience, British Geological Survey and and Honorary Professor University of Dundee.
Prof Alan MacDonald leads international groundwater research at BGS and is an honorary professor at the University of Dundee. He started work as a hydrogeologist in southern England working mainly on the chalk aquifer before spending 3 years in rural Nigeria with WaterAid. For the last 20 years he has been based in Edinburgh and split his time between Scottish Hydrogeology and water security issues in Africa and South Asia, publishing 3 books and >100 research papers. He recently led two major studies for DFID leading to new understanding about the resilience of water supplies to changing climate and abstraction. In Scotland his work focusses on: providing national datasets and new understanding to help implement the water framework directive; groundwater chemistry and residence times; and more recently the role of sub surface flow on flooding.
ALISON MCKAY
Partner, Leapmoor LLP & Member, Scottish Vacant & Derelict Land Taskforce
Alison is Partner at Leapmoor LLP, a land and marine, development and management
consultancy offering services in project and contract management, ground risk and
environment as well as civil engineering coordination. A chartered chemist and chartered
scientist with over 25 years’ experience gained through working as a regulator, consultant, laboratory chemist and landowners’ representative, Alison specialises in the assessment and management of land affected by contamination, providing expert advice and support to clients to ensure they get the best from their projects. Prior to co-founding the Leapmoor practice in 2017, she worked as an independent consultant for 10 years and previously successfully established and grew a Site Assessment Team in Scotland for BAE Systems Properties Ltd. Notably, she was responsible for the delivery of site assessments to support outline planning application for the 1000 hectare former munitions factory, working as a key part of the large, interdisciplinary development delivery team.
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Throughout her career she has worked to promote and improve good practice in the land
contamination sector through speaking at events, provision of training courses and
contributions to industry and government groups. Alison has represented the consulting
sector as a member of the Scottish Government’s Contaminated Land Advisory Group and is currently a member of the Vacant and Derelict Land Taskforce, influencing policy and regulatory change to bring Scotland’s unused land back into beneficial use.
RUSSELL OLD
Senior Geo-Environmental Engineer, AECOM Scotland (Edinburgh)
Russell Old is a senior geo-environmental engineer based in AECOMs Edinburgh office. With over 9 years’ consultancy experience in contaminated land site assessment and remediation in both the UK and Australia, Russell has worked extensively in the industrial sector utilising a range of remedial technologies including multi-phase vacuum extraction, air sparge and soil vapour extraction. Following a number of years working on several key PFAS assessment projects in Australia, Russell has more recently become involved in the assessment and remediation of radiation impacted sites here in the UK. This has led to his involvement in the Dalgety Bay project, where his expertise has been utilised to develop a bespoke remedial solution on this challenging site.
DR COLIN N RAMSAY
Consultant Epidemiologist, Environmental Public Health,
Health Protection Scotland
Dr. Colin Ramsay is a Consultant Epidemiologist in Environmental Public Health (EPH) and leads the EPH Programme of Health Protection Scotland (HPS). The EPH programme relates to the environment as a determinant of health and as a contributory factor to the overall burden of illness and mortality in Scotland. EPH also deals with issues relating to the impact of environmental hazards and their effects on health in Scotland. HPS EPH team supports the investigation of incidents by NHS board Health Protection Teams and Local authority Environmental Health Departments involving environmental hazards. EPH work also involves a wide network of partners and stakeholders including Scottish Government Directorates (Health, Environment etc), SEPA, Scottish Water, DWQRS etc. and involves collaboration with colleagues in the rest of the UK (PHE and equivalents in Wales and Northern Ireland) as well as international agencies such as WHO etc.
DR CLAIRE STONE
Quality Manager, i2 Analytical Ltd
Dr Claire Stone is the Quality Manager for i2 Analytical Ltd. She has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry with specific expertise in inorganic analysis in the biomedical, oil and environmental industries. She uses her knowledge of these fields to bring scientific and technical support to customers and train staff at i2 laboratories. Claire has worked for i2 Analytical in a variety of technical roles prior to being appointed Quality Manager and has been instrumental in the development of specialist testing methods offered by the laboratory, for example: Bioaccessibility testing, speciation analysis, etc.
Claire represents i2 Analytical at the Environmental Industries Commission laboratory working group, and has contributed technical seminars to both the Society of Brownfield Risk Assessment and Contaminated Land Forum workshops. Claire is a member of the Standing Committee of Analysts (SCA) which develops industry standard methods for environmental analysis techniques. Claire is a STEM ambassador and is actively involved with the Royal Society of Chemistry outreach programme, working with schools and youth organisations leading and supporting science activities.
CLARE TASKER
Client Services Account Manager, The Coal Authority
Clare has been at the Coal Authority for 14 years. Initial work within contracts and procurement provided her with great opportunity to build strong stakeholder relationships. Moving to the Coal Authority's operational team in 2011, Clare developed specialist skills and experience in mining information research, through supporting colleagues responding to mining risks across the UK coalfield. Now as a key member of the commercial reports and advisory team, she uses her skills and knowledge to drive client engagement. Clare works with a number of clients, predominantly in Scotland, to ensure that they have the very best support that meets their specific requirements.
GORDON THOMSON
Associate Director, Lichfields
Gordon Thomson is an Associate Director in Lichfields’ Edinburgh office. After some formative time in local government, Gordon has spent the past 15 years in planning consultancy, at the beginning of which the last round of planning reform was not long underway. His experience ranges from city centre urban regeneration to new settlements in the green belt, major infrastructure to single homes in the countryside.