About | John the Geologist

I live in Glasgow, and have been married to Jacqueline for nearly 25 years. I am originally from the village of Hamilton’s Bawn in Co. Armagh, but have been living in Scotland since 1982.
See my Facebook profile

I am proud to lead the Business Innovation Team in the Department for International Development (DFID), looking for ways to use technology in improving how the department works.
My mid-life crisis in 2001 consisted of treating myself to an M.Sc. in Information Technology (Software and Systems) from the University of Glasgow. My M.Sc. project investigated the use of data downloaded from a GPS device and processed using Java.
Before this, I spent 17 years as a geologist in the oil industry, working for Schlumberger*, Z&S Geology (now only available through the Wayback Machine) and Baker Atlas. My former colleagues now run Task Geoscience.
* If you used to work for Schlumberger, check out Brothers Reunited.

Family history is of interest to me and my brothers Roger and Mark. Read about our grandfather’s short account of and letters from the Great War, a great-great-uncle’s work on the Illinois State Capitol, and see our relatives’ signatures from the 1912 Ulster Covenant.
I look after the websites for Adelaide’s, Adelaide Place Baptist Church and Business in Glasgow, all running WordPress.
I used to look after the website for my old mates in Task Geoscience, until they found someone much more talented!
My brother Roger cycled Land’s End to John O’Groats in July/August 2001. See the record of his trip.