Conference Convenors

The EGC2 conference is overseen by a Board comprising representatives from both the GESGB and the Geological Society. A Technical Steering Committee, made up of experts from the key industries and thematic areas represented at the conference, provides additional guidance. Convenors will be co-opted to help attract high-quality speakers and poster presenters, ensuring a first-class programme. Short biographies of the convenors are provided below.

Convening Steering Committee Members
Name	Biography
Conference Chair Professor Jon Gluyas	Jon Gluyas is emeritus professor of Geoenery, Carbon Capture and Storage at Durham University and the immediate past-president of the Geological Society. Jon has worked on low and zero carbon geoenergy research since 2009. He has co-founded the UK National Geothermal Centre and was chair of the development board for the UK CCS Research Centre. He has also served as president of the PESGB (now GESGB), the Earth Science Teachers Association and been chair of the British Geological Society Board. At Durham University Jon has been Head of Earth Sciences and Dean of Knowledge Exchange. He was also Executive Director of Durham Energy Institute for over 6 years. Before joining academia Jon worked in the petroleum industry as a geologist as well as managing exploration and production. He has founded 15 companies covering the energy transition, Earth observation, helium exploration and hydrogen exploration.
James Preston-Bell	James Preston-Bell is a Production Geologist at Adura with 10 years of experience spanning exploration, development, production, consulting, and operations geology. He has recently worked extensively on North Sea assets, supporting field development, drilling and reservoir management. Alongside his technical role, James is an active contributor to the geoscience community and advocate for collaboration across the energy sector. He has convened several conferences and technical events through his role on the Geological Society of London’s Energy Group committee. He is passionate about supporting the next generation of geoscientists through mentoring, outreach and early-career development initiatives, and is particularly interested in the role geoscience can play in delivering a secure, practical and responsible energy transition. James holds an MSci in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Integrated Petroleum Geoscience from the University of Aberdeen. Prior to his current role, he worked for Shell and ERCE.
James Churchill	James Churchill is currently CNS Growth Manager at Adura, with more than 25 years of experience across hydrocarbon exploration, development, and production. He is a strong advocate for industry collaboration and professional development, having held pivotal roles in the PESGB (now GESGB), serving as President and contributing to numerous technical and networking initiatives. He has coordinated industry events including the PETEX, DEVEX, and the Petroleum Geology Collaboration Showcase, and is passionate about fostering collaboration between industry and academia, and advancing the role of geoscience in delivering responsible energy solutions. James holds a BSc in Geology from the University of Liverpool and an MSc in Petroleum Geoscience from the University of Aberdeen and has previously worked for Robertson Research, Ichron, BG Group, and Shell.
Georg Warrlich	George is a geoscientist and subsurface leader with more than 25 years of experience in reservoir characterization, integrated subsurface exploration & development, and managing producing assets, mostly with Shell. He has worked extensively on carbonate reservoirs across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, with focus on Oman, Malaysia, and Kuwait. Presently, as Shell’s Principal Technical Expert for Carbonate Reservoir Characterization, Georg focuses on integrating subsurface workflows with emerging technologies to enhance reservoir understanding and enable decision-making.
Daniel Arnold
Ingrid Demaerschalk	Ingrid Demaerschalk has a Geology degree from the KULeuven University in Belgium and an Msc in Computing in Earth Sciences from Keele University in the UK. She is an expert geomodeller and Petrel user with 25+ years of industry experience. Previously Group Technical Authority for Reservoir Modelling at BG Group and Reservoir Modelling Advisor at Tullow Oil Plc, she is currently working as an independent reservoir modelling advisor for her own company In-Grid Solutions Ltd. Ingrid was a co-convenor for the 2019 Petroleum Group conference Capturing Geoscience in Geomodels and the highly successful EGC1 conference in 2023. She has been a Fellow of the Society since 2001.
Neil Frewin	Neil Frewin is a versatile energy professional and leader with more than thirty years’ industry experience, mostly with Shell International. He has an extensive international upstream background, from front-end new ventures strategy, initiation, maturation, and negotiation, to exploration discovery, appraisal and development with mid-size and super-major companies. He is currently leading Shell’s cross-business specialist geoscience capability in the company’s London hub location. Neil is a Past President of the GESGB (2016-2018) and is founder and Chair of the society’s “Exploring the Energy Transition” Special Interest Group. Neil is currently Vice President of Professional & Chartership, and Chair of the Development Committee, at the Geological Society. Neil is also Vice Chair of Trustees at The Etches Collection, a museum of Jurassic Marine Life located in Dorset. Neil was on the board of the first Energy Geoscience Conference held in Aberdeen in 2023.
Laura Robertson	Laura Colombano Robertson is an international subsurface geoscientist and technical leader with broad experience across exploration, appraisal, development and producing assets worldwide. Her expertise spans reservoir characterisation and geomodelling, risk and uncertainty analysis, reserves and resources assessment, new ventures evaluation, economic screening and portfolio optimisation. She has worked across a wide range of geological settings, reservoir types and fluid systems, supporting projects in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. Laura is an Italian and British citizen; she started her career with Agip (now ENI) in Milan and has worked for NAOC, Agip USA, BP Asia Pacific, Cairn Energy and Capricorn Energy in Nigeria, USA, Bangladesh, India, Singapore and UK. She is currently President of the GESGB (Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain) and an Honorary Professor of Reservoir Geoscience at Heriot-Watt University, where she is actively involved in mentoring, skills development and promoting the role of geoscience across the evolving energy sector.