EuroGeoSurveys SRIA’s Goals & Priorities and SRIA’s Experts Dialogues: a Geological Service for Europe

Julie Hollis is Secretary General of EuroGeoSurveys, a not-for-profit association representing 37 Geological Surveys of Europe. EuroGeoSurveys bridges the geoscience–policy gap at European level, delivering expert scientific data and advice to support the green transition, and building strategic partnerships within Europe and with international partners, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Julie has a PhD in Geology and a Master of Science Communication and Public Engagement from the University of Edinburgh, and more than 20-years of experience in research and senior management roles in geological survey organisations and related ministries in Australia, Denmark, and Greenland.

Francesco Pizzocolo holds a MSc in Structural Engineering from Brescia University (IT).  After graduating, he worked for 5 years as a fracture mechanics expert at the Eindhoven Technology University (NL). In 2013 he started his career at TNO as Geomechanics Scientists working on research and consultancy projects on various applications (induced seismicity, CCUS, geothermal energy, UGS, …). In 2018 he became group leader of the Materials for GeoEnergy group, supporting chemists and physicists in the development of materials used in the subsurface applications. Since September 2022 he coordinates, together with the EGS team, the GSEU project with the aim of establishing a Geological Service for Europe in 2027.

Philippe Freyssinet serves as Director of Research and Programs at BRGM (French Geological Survey) since 2017. Previously he was Scientific Director for Energy and Environment at Qatar Foundation RDI to design and implement the R&D policies and initiatives of Qatar Foundation in the field of energy and environment. He experienced R&D management and scientific strategies planning, as a member of ANR (French National Research Agency) from 2005 at the inception phase of the funding agency, first as Head of the Department on Sustainable Energies and Environment, then from 2009 to 2004 as Deputy General Director in charge of scientific programs. He had before successive research and management positions at the French Geological Survey (BRGM). His scientific career, as geochemist, focused mineral exploration, pollution management and environmental technologies. In his early career he held a postdoc in CSIRO (Perth, Western Australia) followed by a junior research scientist position at ANDRA (National radioactive wastes management agency). Philippe Freyssinet earned his PhD in 1988 from University of Strasbourg (France) in Earth Sciences. He is also a Fellow of the French Academy of Technologies since 2023.

José Fernandez serves as Scientific Deputy Director at IGME (Geological and Mining Institute of Spain) since 2023. PhD in soil mechanics from Ecole Centrale Paris (2001), “Ramón y Cajal” postdoc at CEDEX (civil engineering research agency in Spain), he is researcher in the “Department of Geological Risks and Climate Change” at IGME since 2009 and Professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) since 2011. His main research interests focus on engineering geology: geomechanical modelling and risk assessment applied to geological and mining hazards. He is currently involved in the building of the EuroGeoSurveys SRIA document inside the GSEU project.

Marina Cabidoche has been a geological engineer specializing in mineral resources since 2015. Since 2023, she has held positions within the European geological community, as Scientific Officer of EuroGeoSurveys and Executive Secretary of ETP SMR. Her experience spans geology, research, exploration, mining, and geothermal energy.

Prior to her current role, she held research positions with the French (BRGM) and Belgian (GSB) geological surveys. Her expertise extends to research and innovation in the fields of geology, geothermal energy and mining, as demonstrated by her involvement in European research projects such as MEET and Robominers. In 2022, she has also shared her knowledge with future generations at the University of Liège, where she has lectured on mineral resources.

Paula Canteli, PhD is Mining Engineer at the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain since 2000, with an intermediate of 10 years working internationally in energy resources (Europe and Asia). Since her return to IGME in 2016, she has been working in geological storage (CO2, H2), being responsible for national and European projects of Horizon Europe (and Horizon 2020). Coordinator of geological storage at the National Geological Survey. Leader/co-leader of the geological storage group in various national and international organizations (PTECO2; European Geological Survey (EuroGeoSurvey)) and member of the Executive Committee of the European Network of Excellence in CO2 Geological Storage (CO2GeoNet).

Klaus Hinsby, Sr. Research Hydrogeologist at GEUS, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland since 1988. Chair of the Water Resources Expert Group of the EuroGeoSurveys, 2015-2023, Dept. Chair from 2007-2015 and since 2023. President of the Danish chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH). Member of Working Group Groundwater within the Common Implementation Strategy of the Water Framework Directive since 2004. Research activities and interests include groundwater quantitative and chemical status assessment e.g.: 1) derivation of Natural Backgrounds and threshold values for groundwater 2) climate change impacts on groundwater quantity and quality - including sea level rise and seawater intrusion, 3) climate change impact assessment and adaptation 4) the relation between groundwater quantity and quality (chemical status) and the ecological status of dependent terrestrial and associated aquatic ecosystems 5) groundwater age distributions, vulnerability and contaminant trends 6) innovative and sustainable solutions within the water sector including development of on-line map viewers of near real-time monitoring and modelling results and FAIR access to on-line groundwater data and knowledge and 7) the science-policy interface e.g. in relation to EU directives and the UN sustainable development goals. He has published more than 100 publications including 40 peer reviewed journal papers and 14 book chapters.

Mateja Jemec Auflič is a Research Associate at the Geological Survey of Slovenia, as a Doctor of Geology and Environmental Protection. She leads the Dynamic Earth research programme group at GeoZS. Dr. Jemec Auflič has extensive experience in engineering geology, landslide monitoring and warning, rock slope failures, remote sensing imagery, and disaster management. She has led numerous international and national projects at GeoZS, focusing on the recognition and investigation of slope mass movements, both past and future. She is also part of a working group developing a national landslide warning system (MASPREM). Dr. Jemec Auflič serves on the board of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and is a member of EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) in the Earth Observation and Landslides Expert Group (EOEG), where she has been the deputy chair since 2020. Within the EOEG group, she led research on landslide monitoring techniques, published in the journal Landslides in 2023. She co-organizes the session “Landslide Monitoring: Recent Technologies and New Perspectives” at the European Geosciences Union (EGU). Her research is well-documented in numerous publications and citations. Over the past five years, she has published more than 80 works, including original papers, review papers, technical notes, full papers, and interviews. In 2022, she received the Lipold Award for outstanding scientific research achievements in Geology.

Trained as an engineer, Stephan Gruijters started at TNO - Geological Survey of the Netherlands in 2000, after almost 10 years of project management in consultancy. He was involved in projects aimed at creating added value on top of (geological) subsurface data and information for soil, groundwater and mineral resource management, risk assessments and spatial planning. In 2002 he moved into (international) projects on data management, data dissemination and standardization. Since 2009 he is responsible for managing the transition of the Dutch NDR to a fully automated, webservice based system for upload, storing and download of all subsurface data in the Netherlands. Starting in 2023 he took over the responsibility for the digital strategy of the Geological Survey, aimed at accelerating the time to market of data and information services and improving the reliability, transparency and reproducibility of (data)products resulting from TNO’s research and advisory work.  

Simon Johnson is the Director of Geoscience at the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) and is responsible for managing and coordinating all geoscience activities across the GSWA. He is also responsible for developing and shaping the long-term strategic direction for the collection, interpretation, and delivery of State Government pre-competitive geoscience data that help to understand the 4D evolution of the Western Australian crust and the mineral and energy systems that it may contain.

Isaac Ojea Jimenez has worked for more than 15 years as a researcher, in the Joint Research Centre among institutions, in the fields of chemistry, material science and nanomaterials. He also worked for the European Patent Office before taking up his duty as Policy Officer in the Sustainable Freshwater Management Unit at DG Environment, where he currently is the responsible for the Groundwater Directive dossier.

Peter Tom Jones is the Director of the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²), an interdisciplinary team of more than 400 researchers focusing on the exploration, extraction, processing, refining and recycling of the energy-transition metals that are essential for a sustainable society. Jones has been working in this field for over 20 years, since completing his PhD in Metallurgy at KU Leuven in 2001. Jones is also the co-founder of KU Leuven’s SOLVOMET Research & Innovation Centre, a platform that provides (circular) hydrometallurgy expertise to industrial partners. Through SIM² KU Leuven and SOLVOMET, Jones has been a coordinator or partner in more than 30 EU-funded projects on sustainable metallurgy and critical raw materials (CRMs). Additionally, Jones is the author of several books on the transition to a climate-neutral, circular economy (e.g., Terra Incognita (2006), Klimaatcrisis (2009), Terra Reversa (2009 & 2016)…) and presenter of documentaries focusing on made-in-Europe mine-to-cleantech value chains (e.g., Responsible mining in Europe (2022), Made in Europe: from mine to Electric Vehicle (2023), The Sami Perspective (2024), Europe's Mining Renaissance (2024), Europe’s Lithium Paradox (forthcoming, 2025)).

Jürgen Grötsch is currently Lecturer Geo-Energy in the master program at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität in Erlangen, Germany and advisor to the German government and public on subsurface storage of nuclear waste. He holds a PhD in geology from FAU which he has done in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA. Before joining FAU, Jürgen worked for 31 years for Shell Exploration & Production in various positions like Chief Geologist of NAM B.V., Head of Geological Services in Europe or Technology Manager Subsurface Software. During the latter assignment, he initiated the Open Subsurface Data UniverseTM project in 2011 which is currently the largest digital technology project in the energy industry and beyond providing a standardized cloud-agnostic open-source data platform as a service for geoscience and energy data. Lately, his focus is on natural hydrogen exploration in Germany. Jürgen has been SPE Distinguished Lecturer and Past-President of the German Geological Society (DGGV).

Nicola Magnani is leading the Materials and Strategic Supply Chains for the Energy Transition project of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, and is a Commission Official since 2016. At the time, he had fifteen years of academic experience as a quantum physicist with a strong focus towards material science, nanotechnology and statistical mechanics. In addition to his team's research on critical raw materials, he is strongly interested in activities aimed at better understanding the science-policy interface and improving the communication of scientific results to policy makers.

Guillaume Bertrand holds a Ph.D. in tectonics and geodynamics (1999) from the University of Paris. After two post-doc positions (USA and Germany), he started working at BRGM, the French Geological Survey, in 2003. He now works at BRGM Georesources Division as project manager and research engineer on primary mineral resources, the link between geodynamic contexts and mineralization genetic processes, mineral deposits databases and prospectivity mapping, in research projects co-funded by European and French public institutions. Since 2021 he’s head of the 'Geology of Mineral resources' (GEM) unit at BRGM, dedicated to primary mineral resources. He’s also expert for EuroGeoSurveys' Mineral Resources Expert Group and coordinator of the mineral resources work package in GSEU.

Eleftheria Poyiadji, B.Sc., Geology, University of Athens M.Sc. DIC in Structural Geology and Rock Mechanics, London University / Imperial College. Chair of Earth Observation and Geohazards Expert Group (EOEG) of EuroGeoSurveys (EGS). She is an employ of Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration, having the positions of “Head of Director’s General Office” and “Director of Natural and Technological Hazards Management Department”. She has been continuously working at Hellenic Geological Survey, previously named as Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, from 1986. She has been involved in a variety of national and European projects at all stages in relation to engineering Geology, Geohazards and Earth Observation, from writing proposals to their implementation. The majority of the projects required cooperation with other institutions or private companies, as well as interdisciplinary collaboration, with civil engineers, hydrogeologists and geochemists.

Margarita Sanabria has a degree in geology and a master's degree in environmental research, modelling and risk Assessment. After working in the private sector as a GIS consultant in 2006, she joined the Geological Information Systems Division of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME-CSIC). From the beginning, she has collaborated on several European projects aiming to deliver geoscientific FAIR information. Since 2017, she has been in charge of the IGME-CSIC institutional database service. Currently involved in WP7 GSEU project, leading the requirements gathering activity for European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI).

Alessandro Sciullo is a Researcher at the Culture, Politics and Society department of the University of Turin (Italy) and Senior Consultant at the Socio-Economic Research Institute (IRES Piemonte) of the Piedmont Region, Italy. With a background in Public Policy Analysis and Environmental Sociology, he has been carrying out research for the past 20 years in the field of public policy implementation and evaluation in many policy domains including labor market, local development and innovation policies. Since 2013 he has embarked in new line of research on the social dimensions of the ecological and energy transition with attention paid to both the impacts and determinants of transition pathways and RES technologies deployment. 

Involved in many Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects on sustainability and energy related topics, he focused mostly on the analysis of Renewable Energy Communitties, social impact assessmen and public engagement. He took the lead of the Joint Programme EERA - e3s in February 2022.

Hans-Georg Krenmayr studied geology at the University of Vienna. His diploma thesis was dedicated to a sedimentological topic of the Molasse Basin in Upper Austria and included an integrative geological mapping of a large area. His PhD thesis is a sedimentological analysis of Upper Cretaceous deep marine slope sediments at different sites in the Northern Calcareous Alps. From 1992 to 2003 he worked as a field geologist in the Geological Mapping Division of the Geological Survey of Austria. Since the foundation of GeoSphere Austria in 2023 by merging the former Geological Survey and the former National Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, this department has been renamed to Directory of Geological Services. Hans-Georg is the national delegate of GeoSphere Austria to EuroGeoSurveys and chairs the Geological Mapping & Modelling Expert Group since it's foundation in December 2020.

Annamária Nádor, senior geologist is the Chair of the Geo-Energy expert group of the European Geological Surveys and also the Energy Priority Area coordinator of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. She has more than 15 years of experience in deep geothermal systems, especially resource assessment, utilization and management strategies of transboundary geothermal reservoirs in Central Europe. She has been participating in numerous EU-funded geothermal projects and worked as project manager in several of them. She is the member of the international expert team elaborating the United Nations Framework Specifications (UNFC-2019) for geothermal energy. She was one of the initiators of the Hungarian geothermal risk mitigation scheme and the Hungarian Geothermal Information Platform – OGRE. Addressing the current energy crisis, she has been working on strategies how to accelerate geothermal developments in Hungary.

Jørgen Tulstrup holds a M.Sc. in Geology/Geophysics. Chief Consultant at GEUS. +40 years’ experience with data management for geological data. Coordinator for EGDI since 2016. Project lead for the GeoERA project GIP-P and currently WP lead in the GSEU project. Co-chair of the EGS Spatial Information Expert Group.

Gabriele Leoni is a MSc Geologist, specialized in GIS and Earth Observation for Land Planning and Protection, researcher at ISPRA (Geological Survey of Italy). He mainly deals with geohazard analysis (landslide, flood, seismic and climate changes driven hazard), geohazard modeling and risk assessment. In this research area he develops GIS applications aimed at geographic database implementation, dataset analysis and modeling in many national and international projects. These applications, aimed at improving geological characterization of natural resources and cultural heritage, are based on Copernicus and contributing missions’ data and services. In this fields he also organises training courses for university and professional. He represents ISPRA in the Urban Geology Expert Group (EuroGeoSurveys).

Stefan Broda is head of the Groundwater Spatial Information Unit in the Groundwater and Soil Division at Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources - BGR. He graduated from the Technical University of Dresden (Germany) in Groundwater Management and received his PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada), followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ècole Polytechnique in Montrèal. He is a senior groundwater specialist with 15 years of professional experience in groundwater hydraulics, modelling, mapping and applied machine learning in hydrogeology. He has participated in several European projects, such as the HOVER project as WP leader and the GSEU project as WP deputy. At BGR, he is, among others, leader of the project on machine learning based nationwide groundwater level prediction. He is also a member of the EGS Water Resources Expert Group.

Serge van Gessel graduated as a geologist in 1988 at the Earth Sciences department of University of Utrecht, Netherlands. He is currently Chief Advisor at Geological Survey of the Netherlands – TNO where he informs and advises national and regional authorities on subsurface uses in the context of the energy transition and climate policy. He is coordinator of Task-42 under the umbrella of the IEA-Hydrogen Technology Collaboration Programme, which focuses on global collaboration on Underground Hydrogen Storage.

Laurence Gourcy is a senior scientist and project manager in the field of hydrogeology and tracers in the environment. She has been working for BRGM, French Geological Survey, since 2005 by leading research and policy-support projects studying the transfer of contaminants, and since 2017 head of the unit in charge of data evaluation and valorisation. In the EU FP6, she has been coordinating the WP “Pollution” of the ASEMWATERNET project and was senior researcher in RISKBASE (Coordination Action on Risk Based Management of River Basins). She was coordinator of the GEOERA – HOVER project involving 30 eurogeosurveys and aiming at proposing products such as web services in order to gain understanding of the controls on groundwater quality across Europe using the combined expertise and data held by member states. Active member of the European CIS working group on group water and chair of the working group on groundwater of the Europeosurveys.

Helen Glaves is a Senior Data Scientist at the British Geological Survey (BGS), with more than 30 years’ experience in marine geoscience and geoinformatics. Her current role focuses on the development and implementation of research infrastructures, which includes acting as Strategic Director of the Integrated Core Services (ICS-C) for the European Plate Observing System (EPOS). She is also the Deputy Chair of the ENVRI Board, which acts as a coordinating activity for the cluster of European environmental research infrastructures.

Helen Glaves is also actively involved in a number of national and international initiatives addressing various aspects of open science, including as co-chair of the In-situ Data subgroup and a member of the Data and Knowledge Working Group within GEO.

Helen has previously served as President of the European Geosciences Union from 2021 to 2023. In 2026, she also received the EGU's Ian McHarg medal in recognition of her distinguished research in information technology applied to marine geoscience and, in particular, her contribution to advancing data sharing across different disciplines and organisational boundaries.

Jasna Šinigoj, has a degree in geology. She has been the head of the Geological Information Centre of the Geological Survey of Slovenia for 25 years and has more than 30 years of experience in data management for geological data. She has been a member of the EGDI operation group since 2016. Jasna is Executive Secretary of the Geoscience Information Consortium, CGI-IUGS Co-Secretary General, National Delegate to EuroGeoSurveys and Deputy chair of the Spatial Information Expert Group (SIEG). She is involved in the WP7 GSEU project and leads the core task T7.1 EGDI.

Luca Guerrieri holds a PhD degree in geological sciences. His research interests are mainly focused on active tectonics, Quaternary geology and paleoseismology. Since 2000 employed at the Geological Survey of Italy within ISPRA – the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research.

At international level, he has participated to numerous EU-funded research projects in different geological topics mainly focused on earth observation and remote sensing and also to two projects funded by US institutions in the field of tectonic geomorphology and paleoseismology.

He has represented ISPRA at International Organizations (IAEA, UNESCO, etc.) and at global and European programmes dealing with earth observation (GEOSS and Copernicus).

He has collaborated with the European Environmental Agency through three Topic Centres on Land Use and Spatial Information.

Since 2012 is the National Delegate for Italy at EuroGeoSurveys, contributing to the Expert Groups on Earth Observation, Geohazard and International Cooperation.

Virginie Harcouët-Menou, senior geothermal researcher at VITO, earned her geophysics degree in 2001 and a PhD in Geophysics in 2005. She conducted postdoctoral research in Tokyo on temperature's role in earthquake initiation and later coordinated the preparation of a EU geothermal project in Turkey while at the University of Aachen. Since 2009, she has been a senior expert at VITO, focusing mainly on shallow to deep geothermal energy, including the reuse of abandoned mines for geothermal applications. In recent years, Virginie Harcouët-Menou has built also expertise in the field of LCA methodology applied to the geothermal sector. Since June 2024, she has led the Horizon Europe project "URGENT," developing geothermal technologies for urban areas. In parallel, Virginie co-chairs the EERA Joint Program on Geothermal Energy.

Irena de Séjournet de Rameignies is a geologist with the background in ore and deposit geology. She’s part of the EuroGeoSurveys since 2021, where she holds the position of the Deputy Scientific Officer. Prior to her current role, she held a junior research position within the Polish Geological Survey (PGI-NRI), where she worked on strategic project for Poland.