Colin Waters

I am currently Chair of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy and Secretary of the Geological Society Stratigraphy Commission. I have a central role in coordinating activities of the AWG as part of the formalization process for recognizing the Anthropocene as a new geological time unit. I also have specific interests in characterizing the nature and scale of human modification of the landscape particularly through the accumulation of novel materials (e.g. plastic and concrete) and artificial deposits. I also have published widely on UK Carboniferous stratigraphy and sedimentology. I was awarded an honorary professor in the Department of Geology in 2016. I retired in 2017 as a Principal Mapping Geologist at the British Geological Survey where over nearly 30 years’ service I specialized in geological mapping of the UK (mainly northern and central England) and parts of the Sahara Desert.