Prof Karen Hudson-Edwards has been invited to be the EAG Distinguished Lecturer for 2019.

CSM expert named as Distinguished Lecturer

A sustainable mining expert from the University of Exeter has spoken of her delight after being awarded a significant honour.

Professor Karen Hudson-Edwards has been invited to be the European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) Distinguished Lecturer for 2019.

The Distinguished Lecture program aims to introduce and motivate scientists and students located in under-represented regions of the world to emerging research areas in geochemistry. 

The recipient is selected based on a combination of outstanding research contributions to geochemistry, and the ability to clearly communicate these contributions to a broad audience.

As part of the award, Professor Hudson-Edwards will give lectures at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, later this year.

Professor Hudson-Edwards said: “I am honoured and delighted to be named this year’s EAG Distinguished Lecturer.

“The EAG is a leading organisation promoting geochemistry throughout the world, through conferences, publications and outreach activities such as the Distinguished Lecturer programme. I’m looking forward to meeting geoscientists in Central and Eastern Europe to discuss my research and share my love of geochemistry and sustainable mining.”  

Professor Hudson-Edwards is based in the Environment & Sustainability Institute and the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

Her research focuses on understanding the character and geochemical mobility of mine wastes, and on designing management and remediation schemes to lessen their impacts on ecosystem and human health.

Over the past 25 years she has worked all over the globe, studying the aftermath of tailings dam failures, the geochemistry, mineralogy and microbiology of different types of mine wastes and the effectiveness of remediation and management schemes.

Currently she supervises a research group of eight post-docs and PhD students working on a variety of projects, including bioleaching of Ni-Cu-Co ores, the characterisation of metal-organic pollutants for remediation of mining environments and the global implications of acid mine drainage.

Professor Kip Jeffrey, Head of the Camborne School of Mines said: “I am thrilled that Karen has received this wonderful honour, it is richly deserved. Not only is Karen at the forefront of some of the most pioneering work into mining-related environmental geochemistry but she also has a relentless passion and enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge and expertise with the next generation of mining students.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for Karen to share that enthusiasm with students across Europe, and I am confident that it will have a hugely positive impact on those who experience her lectures.”

Date: 24 May 2019