H2O in Paradise

Synopsis

The lecture will introduce the geology, hydrogeology, water resources, and some of the present-day environmental protection issues facing the unique and beautiful island of Bermuda.

Jim Thomson started his geology career as an exploration geologist in southern Africa. He then specialised in groundwater, initially with Southern Water Authority, where he had responsibility for the South Downs Chalk Aquifer. His expertise in limestone aquifers (notably numerical simulation of groundwater resources) led to him being appointed as Government Hydrogeologist in Bermuda twice: first in the 1980s, and again in 2015-2018.

He started consulting work in California and Colorado in 1988, and retired in 2014 as Senior Vice-President and Director of Norwest Corporation, having led hydrogeology projects in the US, Canada, Australia, and Mongolia. His career has included: clean-up of toxic groundwater at Superfund sites in Texas and Pennsylvania; the Alberta Saline Aquifer Project, in which his team identified suitable deep aquifers to sequester 100 years’ CO₂ production in the energy-rich province; and investigation of methane gas seeps in the Condamine River, Queensland.