Executive Director at the British Geological Survey and an Executive member of the Natural Environment Sciences Research Council, UK, since 2006, John has held numerous science direction and management posts. Prior to this he was Director of the Earth Sciences Division at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He has a broad understanding of Earth and environmental sciences and science in general, with specialist knowledge in geochemistry and energy-related science. He worked as a professor and research scientist at the University of Montreal, Lamont Doherty Earth Institute of Columbia University and with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the USA and holds a doctorate from the University of Manchester, UK. He has visiting and honorary professor status at several universities and is a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and past president of the European Geosciences Union and also EuroGeosurveys.