Leeds geoscientists awarded by The Geological Society
Three academics at the School of Earth and Environment have been awarded by the Geological Society for their contributions to geoscience.
Dr Amy McGuire, Dr Fred Bowyer and Dr Khushboo Gurung have been named as The Geological Society’s 2025 Award Winners.
They will receive their awards with the society in June 2025, at Burlington House in London.
Dr Amy McGuire – Wollaston Medal
The Wollaston Fund is awarded to early-career geoscientists who have made excellent contributions to geoscience research and its application, in the UK and internationally.
Dr McGuire's research interrogates the nature and timing of vegetation responses to past climate oscillations, with a particular focus on the Quaternary Period, the last 2.58 million years.
She is currently studying submerged landscapes preserved below the North Sea to better understand long-term sea-level variability in Europe as part of the ‘RISeR – Rates of Interglacial Sea-Level Change, and Responses’ project.
“I’m hugely humbled to have received this reward – I can only hope to live up to it! I am grateful to all those who have shown me kindness in my career to date, and I promise I will pay that kindness forward,” she said.
Dr Fred Bowyer – Lyell Medal
The Lyell Fund is awarded to contributors to the Earth Sciences on the basis of noteworthy published research in 'soft' rock studies.
Dr Bowyer studies the rock record to understand links between climate, changes to ocean chemistry, and early biological evolution on Earth.
He said: “I’m very grateful to have been awarded the Lyell Fund and specifically grateful for all the guidance, support and encouragement I’ve received throughout my academic career so far.
“The work I’m helping to produce couldn’t be achieved without close international collaboration and enthusiastic sharing of knowledge across borders."
Dr Khushboo Gurung – President's Award
President's Awards are given to early career geoscientists who are within eight years of the award of their first degree in geoscience and are judged to have the potential to be future leaders in their fields.
Dr Gurung is working to build vegetation models that better reflect the impact of plants on long-term paleoclimate.
Her work aims to detangle the interrelationship between plant evolution and past climates.
She said: “I am honoured to have received this award. I could not have done this without the support from my colleagues within the Earth Evolution Modelling group and beyond. Thank you all for your words of encouragement and I hope to continue building on this research.”
Find out more about Dr Gurung’s work in her interview with the Geological Society (YouTube).
