Dr Marie Cowan

Biography

Dr Cowan is the Science Director with the British Geological Survey (BGS) and Director at its Belfast office, the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI).  GSNI is an office of the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland (DfE) and advises other Northern Ireland government departments and liaises closely with the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI).  Dr Cowan is also a member of the Royal Irish Academy’s Geosciences and Geographical Sciences Committee, where she spearheaded the introduction of an MLA-Geoscientist Pairing Scheme in Northern Ireland.  Dr Cowan is a certified member of the Institute of Directors and a professional geologist with the Institute of Geologists of Ireland. She is also a member of the NI Assembly All Party Group for Science and Technology and the NI Learned Societies and Professional Bodies Forum.   Dr Cowan has been a cornerstone in the £6M Tellus and £4.5M Tellus Border soil geochemistry and geophysical mapping projects in NI and Ireland; the communications campaigns of which were awarded five industry awards from Chartered Institute of Public Relations and Public Relations Institute of Ireland.