Inaugural lectures

The Inaugural Lecture Series

Our inaugural lectures celebrate our world-class research talent and are an opportunity for our recently appointed professors to share their knowledge with a wider community.

The next Inaugural Lecture takes place virtually on 28th October at 5pm, register now.

Professor John Ludden CBE
Big Geosciences for the Future

Professor John Ludden CBE is the Bicentennial Professor of Environmental Governance and Diplomacy at the Lyell Centre at Heriot-Watt University, following 13 years as Executive Director of the British Geological Survey.

Drawing on his extensive experience as an international leader in the earth and environment sector, his Professorship focuses on science governance and diplomacy, with a remit to develop links across disciplines and to strengthen communication with the public and policy makers. He seeks to engender a cultural shift towards a more solutions-based approach at the interface of environmental, engineering and social science that responds to urgent global problems.

Professor Ludden has been the instigator and leader of some of the biggest, big-geoscience projects of the past decades. These involve satellite missions measuring the Earth’s gravity and magnetic fields, deep Earth sounding through geophysics, and drilling the ocean’s abyss.

In his inaugural lecture, Professor Ludden will describe future global initiatives in the geosciences that will enhance the sustainable development of the planet – one of these is to drill into an active 900^oC magma system in Krafla Iceland, to harness its energy, and to experiment with new volcano monitoring technology that will improve prediction and mitigation of future eruptions. 

View the full Inaugural Lectures on the HWU Lectures channel 

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