Say hello to our new YGS Council Members
Professor Paul Wignall | Principal Editor, PYGS
I was President of the Society a little over 10 years ago and left the Council shortly after that, so it’s good to be re-joining and see some familiar faces and many new ones. The Society’s Proceedings has been in the safe hands of Stewart Molyneux for a long time and I hope to keep it thriving during my tenure. I’ve been involved in editorial management of other journals which will hopefully hold me in good stead.
Academically, I’m a “soft rock” geologist based at the University of Leeds with interests in many areas including palaeontology, sedimentology, geochemistry and stratigraphy and even volcanology (which is definitely not a soft-rock topic).
Most of my attention is on mass extinction intervals, especially the largest event at the Permo-Triassic boundary, although I find all ancient crises are interesting. However, my research began in the 1980s on the Carboniferous rocks of the Pennines: a topic that remains close to my heart.
Hayley Scholefield | Field Meetings Secretary
I was delighted and honoured to be nominated by the Council for the position of Field Meeting Secretary at the 2020 AGM. I am a recent Structural Geology with Geophysics postgraduate from the University of Leeds, following on from my Bachelor’s degree in Geoscience from Keele University. I was very fortunate to start exploring the world from a very young age from leaving my home country of Scotland, to live and study in multiple European and Asian countries over a 15-year period before landing back in the UK. This exposure allowed me to experience a variety of different cultures and adventures and quite frankly, has allowed me to see first-hand some amazing places.
I have always had a passion for the outdoors and science, thus studying a geology-related degree was a no brainer, the perfect combination. Undergoing my undergraduate dissertation in a small but diverse geological area of Caer Caradoc in Shropshire, I found my interest in structural geology emerging. I decided to narrow my field of interest and study at the University of Leeds in their unique and globally leading Master’s programme. This has provided me with the advanced theoretical and practical training needed to flourish in a career in applied structural geology. I am proud to call myself a geologist, albeit a graduate and look forward to where 2021 takes me.