Biographies of BCRA Trustees

BCRA's trustees form the charity's governing Council. There are ten elected members of Council, plus the President (chosen by Council), totalling eleven; and up to three additional trustees co-opted by Council from time to time, thus totalling up to 14 trustees. A list of names and contact information is given on the page BCRA: Contacting Us.

If you would like to know more about BCRA's trustees, we have assembled this Biography page, with a brief introduction to each of them. As you can see, we cover a wide range of expertise and backgrounds – both from the caving world and the academic world. And, apart from our trustees, there are many more volunteers who help to keep BCRA running.

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15 trustees ...

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Database last updated on November 11 2024 17:37:37.

Simon Bottrell

Trustee and BCRA President since 2022

Simon Bottrell was elected by BCRA Council to serve as our President for a three-year term beginning in 2022. He is Professor of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry at the University of Leeds.

Andy Eavis

Trustee since 2010

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I have been caving for nearly 60 years, starting at Leicester University in the mid 1960's. My second degree was at Leeds University where I became President of ULSA for 10 years. I originally worked as a mining engineer for the National Coal Board. I later became an entrepreneur giving me the freedom to lead expeditions all over the world starting with Papua New Guinea in 1975, followed by more than 20 expeditions to Mulu, and about the same number to China; interspersed with projects such as scanning some of the largest known cave chambers in the world.

I was Chairman of BCA for nine years and President of the International Union of Speleology for 8 years. I am now a Council Member of BCA and BCRA, and an honorary President of UIS. I am a Gold Medal Winner of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2018, The Mulu Cave Project team, of which I am a member, obtained the Merdeka Award for 'Contribution to People of Malaysia'.

Andy Farrant

Trustee since 2016; treasurer since 2017

I was lucky enough to grow up at the foot of Cheddar Gorge, so I started caving on Mendip when I was about 14, initially with Scouts and on school trips but also with my older brother and two of his friends. I joined the Axbridge Caving Group when I was 15, before going to do a geology degree at Bristol University where I joined the UBSS. I did most of my caving in Mendip and South Wales. I went on to do a PhD at Bristol on landscape evolution with Pete Smart which involved an expedition to Mulu. In the mid 1990's I joined the Chelsea SS during the heady days of the early Ogof Draenen exploration, working with Mike Simms, John Hunt, Rhian & Andy Kendall to work out how the cave developed. I now work at the British Geological Survey as a field geologist.

I have been fortunate to have participated on expeditions to Mulu, China, Russia, Thailand and Brazil. My main interests are in cave geomorphology and hydrology, with a current focus on hypogene caves in the UK. I have been an active caver for almost 40 years, and am currently the BCRA Treasurer. I am still a member of both the UBSS and CSS.

David Gibson

Trustee in the 1990s and from 2010 to 2024; secretary from 2010 to 2023

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At one time I was president of my university's caving club, but that career never took off and I'm not an active caver now, nor a cave scientist, but neither of those are (in my view) essential qualifications for BCRA Council, with which I have worked for over 30 years. At one time I was the Research Fund administrator; and I was secretary from 2010–2023. Before that, I created and edited Speleology magazine. I created and still maintain BCRA's website; and administer BCRA's publishing activities.

In the 1990s I designed a flashgun slave unit that became the basis for the Firefly II/III. Over the last 35 years I have written around 330 items for BCRA's Cave Radio and Electronics Group journal. I have an MA degree in Maths and Engineering and a PhD in 'cave radio'. I worked for ten years in the research department of the Mines Rescue Service. More recently I was a senior research fellow at the University of Exeter's Camborne School of Mines.

John Gunn

Trustee since 2013; chairman since 2015

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I started caving in 1969 whilst still at school and continued during my geography degree at Aberystwyth University. My dissertation on percolation water in Waterfall Hole led to a New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship at Auckland University where I undertook doctoral research on karst hydrology in the Waitomo area. After my PhD I spent 3 years studying karst in Ireland with an Irish Government Postdoctoral Fellowship at Trinity College, Dublin.

My lecturing career began in 1982 at Manchester Metropolitan University where I started a Limestone Research Group (LRG). In 1993 the LRG moved with me to the University of Huddersfield where I was appointed as Professor and Head of the Department of Geographical & Environmental Sciences. At the end of 2007 I retired from Huddersfield as an Emeritus Professor, established Limestone Research & Consultancy Ltd, and became an Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham. I continue to work as a consultant and to carry out academic research, mainly on hydrogeology and speleogenesis.

I have been fortunate enough to visit caves across the globe and continue to enjoy recreational caving and mine exploration as a member of TSG and PDMHS. I joined BCRA in 1973 when the Association was formed and have been a member ever since. Together with Deej Lowe I have edited 'Cave and Karst Science' since 1994 and I have been BCRA Chairman since 2015.

Russell Myers

Trustee since 2021

My caving experience extends from my first underground trip aged 16 – down Bar Pot and into Gaping Gill Main Chamber with the Craven Pothole Club. Captivated by the experience (which I still am to this day), I subsequently joined CPC and have been a lifelong member ever since. I have caved extensively in the North of England and other major caving areas of the UK and Ireland, with occasional international forays.

Along the way, I have been active in administration within my club and within the Council of Northern Caving Clubs (CNCC), serving as its Chairman from 1988 until 1998. In 2020, offering to help the (then) Secretary of BCA, I found myself becoming the BCA Secretary and recently the Chair. I can't claim any particular skills other than a 'thick skin'!

Rostam Namaghi

Co-opted as a trustee in 2024

As a courtesy to BCA, BCRA invites the current BCA chair to accept a co-option to BCRA's board of trustees.

Jenny Potts

Trustee since BCRA's inception in 1973

Jenny has been a BCRA trustee since BCRA was created in 1973. She was also active in the NCA over a similar period and is now a member of the Council of the British Caving Association (BCA). She joined Derbyshire-based Orpheus Caving Club in 1965 and is also active the Derbyshire Caving Association (DCA). She is BCRA's library co-ordinator and works on a voluntary basis in the National Caving Library, which is managed by BCRA.

Mike Rogerson

Trustee since 2022

Mike Rogerson has been a BCRA trustee since 2022. He is a professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Northumbria University.

Dave Shearsmith

Trustee and secretary since 2023

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I started caving in 1970. I spent most of my time in the Yorkshire Dales where I was trained in all aspects of caving at Whernside Manor which was then the national caving centre. I subsequently worked there as an instructor and became interested in cave photography. I then supported CIC assessments and training with a CIC instructor assessor.

I have caved extensively in the Yorkshire Dales, Derbyshire, Mendip and the Northern Dales. My continental experience is extensive in France, with caving in the Vercors, Chatreuse Pyrenees, Ardeche and the Cevennes; as well as Matienzo in Spain and the Hartz Mountains in Germany. Worldwide, I have caved in Mulu and New Zealand. I have been involved in organising filming in the Peak/Speedwell system, as well as supporting research work on the system. I am a member of the TSG, PDHMS, DCA, as well as a keen digger and mines explorer.

Chloe Snowling

Trustee since 2023

Chloe Snowling is a PhD student in Earth Science and Environmental Science at Northumbria University.

Emily Tilby

Trustee since 2024

I currently work as a marine data specialist for the JNCC, focusing on geospatial data. In my PhD and Masters research I worked on microfaunal assemblages primarily from palaeolithic cave deposits, using these to reconstruct the local environment. I have a particular interest in understanding how microfaunal assemblages form in cave deposits and how different taphonomic processes affect this.

Jo White

Trustee since 2017

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I started caving in 2008 and moved to the Yorkshire Dales in 2013, where I worked full-time as an outdoor instructor until 2019. I still run caving courses in the area. During this time, I've caved all over the UK as well as caving on trips and trips and expeditions in Europe. I've also been to caves in Vietnam and Mulu in Borneo.

From 2015–2020 I did a part-time degree in Geology through Birkbeck, University of London. This is what led me into the world of cave science. By a lucky coincidence, I lived close to some of the caves that one of my lecturers had been studying, and he asked if I would like to help. This led me to join BCRA Council in 2017. In 2020 I started a PhD at the University of Huddersfield looking at the microbiology of biofilms in mines and caves around Derbyshire and the Yorkshire Dales.

Les Williams

Trustee since 2017

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Les Williams has been a trustee since 2017. Before that he was chairman of the British Caving Association for a spell. He is a well-known Mendip caver in the Wessex Cave Club. He is the manager of our annual Hidden Earth conference.

Linda Wilson

Trustee since 2022

I started caving in 1979 with the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society (UBSS) after spending my teenage and earlier years scampering around in any holes in the ground I could find, and enjoying school trips to caves in Yorkshire and Derbyshire. I am the Conservation Officer for the Charterhouse Caving Company Ltd and the UBSS Museum Curator. I have caved extensively in the Mendips, South Wales, the Republic of Ireland and France, with forays into Slovenia and the USA. My research interests cover anything painted, engraved and written on caves walls from the Palaeolithic to the early modern era. I have visited many prehistoric sites such as the original caves of Lascaux and Chauvet.

I am a co-editor of the caving and mining news website Darkness Below and also Raking Light for those with a more general interest in historic graffiti. I am currently leading a team documenting historic graffiti in Kents Cavern in Devon.

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