Profile: Dave Smith

Dave Smith

British Geological Survey
Dave Smith is Head of Marine Operations and Engineering at British Geological Survey and is involved in the development of remotely operated coring tools. Over the last 26 years his research has taken him from the ancient volcanoes of North East Atlantic, to the active hydrothermal areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and remote areas of the Antarctic and Arctic.

Myself and a small team of engineering colleagues at BGS have developed remotely operated coring tools that are lowered to the seabed and drill into the geology in water depths up to 6000m. Through novel engineering developments in seabed coring systems, this equipment is much in demand outside the BGS. As a consequence I get involved in many types of marine science projects worldwide and like to think that these systems have enabled marine science to push back the boundaries.

Collecting marine geophysical and sampling/drilling data is a core part of our work and allows our geologists to map the geology below the seabed.

Over the last 26 years I have spent more time at sea than I would like to admit, though with comes the delights of travel. One the many interesting things about this job is that your workspace constantly changes, from the ancient volcanoes of North East Atlantic, to the active hydrothermal areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, active volcanoes of the Tyrrhenian Sea and Black Smokers of PNG, the vast frozen areas of the Antarctic and Arctic and all the wildlife and sea states (0-12), that goes with these remote areas.
Visit the BGS Marine Operations and Engineering website ›
Science during the expedition ›
Read Dave’s blog posts ›