Our group is run by Dr. Uisdean Nicholson, Dr. Amy Gough and Prof. Dorrik Stow, with a number of affiliated postdoctoral research associates and PhD students, as well as a number of other affiliated staff. We also collaborate extensively with other groups, including the Uncertainty Group and the Carbonates Group in IGE, the GeoEnergy Group in the Lyell Centre and other marine and Earth Systems scientists in the Lyell Centre. We also have active partnerships with various international institutions – see projects for more details.
People
Dr Uisdean Nicholson
Uisdean is an Associate Professor of Geoscience in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University. He has a broad range of research expertise in basin evolution, sediment routing systems (particularly deep-water systems) and marine geohazards, most recently marine-target asteroid impacts. His research integrates seismic reflection data and sedimentological data from cores and outcrops. He is closely involved with the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), currently serving on the Science Evaluation Panel and is a proponent on a number of proposals and planned expeditions. He has previously working in industry (Exploration), and has experience of working in over 20 countries and all continents with the exception of Antarctica. https://researchportal.hw.ac.uk/en/persons/uisdean-nicholson
Dr. Amy Gough
Amy is an Assistant Professor of Geoscience in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University. She specialises in Southeast Asian geology with a focus on advancing energy solutions through innovative geoscientific research. She investigates regional geological patterns, particularly in sedimentary provenance, palaeogeographies, and energy-critical elements.
Emeritus Professor Dorrik Stow
Professor Dorrik Stow FRSE is a leading specialist and internationally renowned expert in sedimentary systems, with over 40 years experience in modern, ancient and subsurface sediments. He has a particular interest in deepwater sedimentary systems and an extensive record of scientific publications, including over 300 scientific papers and reports, numerous books and edited volumes. He has also worked closely on continental, shallow water, deltaic and carbonate systems from across the world. Professor Stow has worked both in industry and university and is currently Emeritus Professor at Heriot Watt University (Edinburgh, UK), Distinguished Professor at the China University of Geoscience (Wuhan, China), and Leverhulme Emeritus fellow. His recent text Sedimentary Rocks in the Field (Manson, 2005) is a must-have for students and professional geologists alike, while Oceans: An Illustrated Reference (University of Chicago Press, 2004), Vanished Ocean (Oxford University Press, 2010) and Oceans: A Very Short Introduction are some of his popular science books.
Dr. Andy Gardiner
Andy is a Senior Lecturer in Clastic Sedimentology in the Institute of Geoenergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University. His main research interests are in the acquisition of outcrop analogue data for use in reservoir modelling and simulation.
Dr. Ellen Mears
Ellen is a Postdoctoral Research Associate working on fault leakage during carbon capture and storage. With a background in geology, Ellen's research uses seismic and petrophysical data to evaluate geological sites for carbon storage and other energy transition technologies. In particular, she is interested in the impacts of faults on these uses of the subsurface. Ellen's PhD was co-supervised by Iain de Jonge-Anderson (alongside Florian Doster from the GeoEnergy group) and focused on the effects of reservoir compartmentalisation in a candidate carbon storage site in the UK Southern North Sea.
Dr. Débora Duarte
Débora is a visiting scholar, having recently completed post-doctoral research with Uisdean Nicholson and other colleagues. Her recent NERC-sponsored projects were focused on seismic stratigraphic archives of the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway (2022-2023) and the impact of the Kuroshio Current on geohazards offshore Japan (2023-2024).
Dr. Iain de Jonge-Anderson
Iain is a visiting scholar, having recently (2024) completed a 2-year role as post-doctoral research associate working with Uisdean Nicholson, as well as Andreas Busch and Florian Doster from the GeoEnergy research group. Iain's current and recent research is focused on regional carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, having previously worked on other subsurface storage and unconventional research projects. Iain continues to work with us on a regional CCS research project offshore Malaysia, using a combination of seismic reflection data, petrophysical data and analogue data to understand aquifer storage capacity and seal integrity.
Ms. Ana Widyanita
Ana is currently a PhD candidate in IGE, under the supervision of Uisdean Nicholson, Andreas Busch and Iain de Jonge-Anderson. Her research project, "Seal Analysis and Saline Aquifer Evaluation for Potential Carbon Capture and Storage sites offshore Malaysia" involves sedimentological analyses (including core logging and imaging), pressure analysis, and laboratory analyses of porosity, permeability and capillary entry pressure to understand the storage capacity and seal capacity of possibly CCS sites offshore Peninsular Malaysia. Ana has extensive prior work experience in the oil and gas industry, most recently on CCS projects for PETRONAS.
Chin-Yeh Chen
Chin-Yeh is a PhD candidate supervised by Uisdean Nicholson, Amy Gough, and Duncan Stevens (BGS), and funded by the Iapetus Doctoral Training Partnership. His research project, “Giant megathrust earthquakes: structural and sedimentary controls on tsunamigenic shallow slip,” combines 2D/3D seismic reflection data with IODP/IODP3 core and logging data to investigate the key controls on giant earthquakes and shallow slip in subduction zones, particularly the Japan Trench. He has experience in active-source OBS, seismic reflection, and sub-bottom data processing.
Dr. Benedict Aduomahor
Benedict has recently completed his PhD in IGE, under the supervision of Uisdean Nicholson and Thomas Wagner and is now a Senior Research Technician. His project, "Interaction of Tectonic, Oceanographic, and Sedimentary Processes in Mesozoic Atlantic Ocean Gateways " involved seismic interpretation, sedimentological analyses and geochemistry to constrain the evolution of Cretaceous ocean gateways. This includes on case study in the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway and a second one on the Southern Ocean Gateway, based on samples from IODP Expedition 392.
Candida Menezes de Jesus
Candida Menezes de Jesus is a PhD candidate supervised by Uisdean Nicholson and Alexis Cartwright-Taylor, researching the porosity and permeability of karstified carbonates. She holds a BSc in Geology and an MSc focused on sandstone provenance and diagenesis and is a senior petrophysicist at Petrobras.
Mr. Elson Rian Rodrigues de Albuquerque
Elson is a research intern from the University of São Paulo, supervised by Uisdean Nicholson. He is researching the role of diabase sills as cap rocks within the Paraná Basin (Brazil) for CO₂ geological storage, through the integration of 2D seismic and well data in a 3D environment. He holds a BSc in Geology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.