Speakers

Director Offshore Renewables

ETZ Ltd

Having worked in the offshore wind sector for over 15 years, Isla has an in-depth knowledge of the offshore wind supply chain. With experience across the public and private sector both nationally and internationally, working with developers, tier 1s and companies of all scale, she understands the challenges facing those involved in the sector, looking to get into the sector and shaping it to benefit all. 
Isla joined ETZ Ltd in January 2025, to support the progress of their work, positioning Northeast Scotland as a global leader in energy excellence and pioneering technologies.

Chair

NESA

John is currently the Chair of the National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA), a collaboration between Aberdeen University, Robert Gordon University, North-East Scotland College, Skills Development Scotland and Energy Transition Zone (ETZ). He is Aberdeen University’s Interdisciplinary Director for Energy Transition and Professor in Geoscience and Energy Transition in their School of Geosciences. He is the academic executive director of the UK's GeoNetZero* Centre of Doctoral Training (CDT). His research interests focus upon the role of geoscience in the energy transition and use of methods and data in providing the best solutions and outcomes to deliver low-carbon net zero goals. Before taking up an academic career that has seen him hold posts at Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Aberdeen Universities, John worked as an Exploration Geoscientist for Shell and has also undertaken sabbaticals with bp in Glasgow and Norsk Hydro in Bergen. John helped lead Heriot-Watt's efforts to set up the Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Science and Technology and was the University's Chief Scientist. He was a board member of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) for three years and their President in 2011-12.

Senior Technology Manager - CCS & Hydrogen

Crown Estate

In the UK The Crown Estate aims to achieve Net Zero targets by leasing offshore wind, geological CO2 and H2 storage to deliver government targets and meet market expectations, while playing a lead spatial planning role to optimise whole of seabed use.
Adrian's previous experience as an engineer, team leader, general manager and now technology manager stems from academic training in chemical and petroleum engineering and 37 years in energy.
As Chair of the Offshore Wind and CCS Colocation Forum Adrian is involved in supporting research into storage efficiency and colocation of CO2 alongside offshore wind arrays.

Head of Pre-licensing & Storage

North Sea Transition Authority

Jo has been working in the energy sector for more than 25 years, working for several oil and gas operating companies before joining the NSTA in March 2016. The majority of her career in the private sector has been spent in exploration but Jo also spent several years working on producing fields in both onshore and offshore roles. 
Within the NSTA, Jo is in the New Ventures Directorate and leads a subsurface team which has responsibility for the evaluation of future licensing opportunities for the sectors regulated by the NSTA. Jo is a geologist having studied at Durham and Aberdeen universities before gaining a PhD in seismic sequence stratigraphy at Oxford Brookes University.

Viking CCS Subsurface Team Lead

Harbour Energy

Duncan Taylor is the Subsurface Team Lead for the Viking CCS project, where for the past two years he has overseen the delivery of subsurface workscopes and licence commitments across Harbour Energy’s operated carbon storage portfolio in the Southern North Sea. In addition to coordinating multidisciplinary technical activities, Duncan manages key interfaces with the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and joint venture partners, supporting the efficient maturation of the Viking South anchor store and associated build out sites through the storage permit process.
Before joining Viking CCS, Duncan spent 16 years as a geophysicist and team lead in the UK and US with Harbour Energy and its legacy companies, Chrysaor and ConocoPhillips. During this time, Duncan contributed to new ventures, infrastructure led exploration, reservoir characterisation, and infill drilling programmes, helping to deliver a broad portfolio of subsurface opportunities across the E&P lifecycle.

Senior Lecturer

University of Aberdeen

Rachel Brackenridge is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen where she coordinates and contributes to the MSc in Sustainable Energy Geoscience and MSc Integrated Petroleum Geoscience. She comes from a petroleum exploration background and now research focuses on the geological aspects of subsurface reservoir and store distribution for carbon sequestration and intermittent geological storage.

HydroGlen Development Officer

The James Hutton Institute

Niamh Carr is the HydroGlen Development Officer at the James Hutton Institute. She holds a BSc in Applied Mathematics and an MSc in Renewable Energy Engineering, both from the University of Aberdeen. Since joining the James Hutton Institute in September 2023, Niamh has been instrumental in managing the daily operations of the HydroGlen project. Her responsibilities include funding acquisition, strategic planning, and project outreach, ensuring the successful delivery of this pioneering green hydrogen project.

Senior Lecturer - Geophysics

University of Aberdeen

Dave is an observational geophysicist and seismologist, mostly interested in imaging and monitoring the Earth's subsurface over a variety of scales using different geophysical techniques. He is currently involved in various research projects including: Borneo subduction, Türkiye earthquake hazards, offshore shallow marine sediments, Scotland geothermal, Scotland archaeogeophysics, Raspberry Shakes, inversion, FWI, ambient seismic noise processing, societal impacts of geophysics, geophysical education, and football stadium seismology.

NAGRA

After working for 34 years with Shell International, specializing in petroleum systems analysis, Andrew retired in 2025.  Since 2015, he has had an honorary role at Heriot Watt University which has involved some teaching, supervision and research.
In the last few years, Andrew have acted additionally as a technical advisor for the University of Geneva's UNCONGEO project which investigated the risks of encountering hydrocarbons in geothermal wells in Switzerland.  More recently, he has worked as a consultant with NAGRA, the Swiss organisation tasked with finding and building a repository for nuclear waste.

Principal Researcher

Robert Gordon University

Dr Ayodele Asekomeh is Principal Lecturer and Head of the Responsible Management Subject Group at Aberdeen Business School. He holds a PhD in Accounting and Finance and is a multi-chartered accountant with extensive experience in consultancy (including with KPMG, one of the Big-4), academic research and international capacity building. His work explores the dynamic interactions among state actors, investors and stakeholders in the areas of financing, economics, accountability, governance, sustainability, and risk, particularly in the context of the energy and extractive industries and climate action discourses. Dr Asekomeh brings deep expertise to strategic decision-making at the C-suite level, leveraging advanced modelling and simulation techniques to deliver research-led interventions. His specialisation includes cost and revenue analysis, project financing and resource optimisation across both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, balancing financial and non-financial metrics within multi-stakeholder environments.

Senior Lecturer

University of Aberdeen

Dr. Eddy Wifa is a Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of the Aberdeen University Centre for Energy Law (AUCEL), and contributes to a range of both on-campus and distance-learning courses including Petroleum Resource Governance, Energy Law, Oil and Gas Contracting, Oil and Gas Enterprise Management, Ocean and Society, Decommissioning of Offshore Installations (Regulatory and Commercial Aspects), Low Carbon Energy Transition (Renewable Energy Law) and Alternative Methods to Dispute Resolution.

His research interests include risk governance, petroleum and natural resource governance, regulatory theories in high-major risk industries, decommissioning and clean energy regulation. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and Society of Legal Scholars. He also is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Director of the African Natural Resource and Energy Law Network (ANRELN).

Director

Energy Transition Institute

Paul is a senior industry leader and executive with over 36 years’ experience in the global energy sector. He has worked for a wide range of companies and organisations, including Shell, Marathon Oil, Amoco, BP, Venture Production and Centrica.

He is currently the Director of Robert Gordon University’s Energy Transition Institute, a Board member of the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), a Board member of the International School in Aberdeen, a government and industry advisor and a Professor at Robert Gordon University.

Paul is also an experienced non-executive director, with over 25 years of involvement in public, private and voluntary sector organisations.

He is a regular contributor to net zero activities, climate change discussions and industry events and a media commentator on issues and developments in the international energy sector.

Strategic Lead - Energy Transition

North East Scotland College

Susan has worked in North East Scotland College for over 26 years. Her career with the College began as a lecturer. Since then she has worked in a number of roles including Curriculum Manager; Operations Manager; Quality Manager; Director of Curriculum and Associate Vice Principal. Susan has worked across the region in all the main College Campuses and also with a wide range of subject teams – including engineering; construction; science; computing; business and creative industries. She has also had overall responsibility for leading on Equality and Diversity.
Since August 2023 Suan has been the College Strategic Lead for Energy Transitions. This new post is dedicated to developing NESCol’s capacity and expertise in supporting a just transition for the region. Projects include working with external partners – principally ETZ and Shell UK - in the development of a dedicated Energy Transition Skills Hub in Aberdeen and procurement of an outreach vehicle to inspire and inform people about the transition, as well as liaising with industry on a refreshed curriculum offer. These innovations are designed to support the provision of a supply of skilled workers to match the evolving regional requirements of the energy industry and associated supply chain.

Chief Executive

Great British Energy

Dan McGrail is CEO of Great British Energy (GBE). He was appointed to the permanent position in July 2025 after holding the interim role since March 2025.

Dan is an experienced leader in the renewable energy sector and is guiding the organisation to deliver its core aim: to become an enduring institution that delivers the benefits of a cleaner, more secure energy system to the British public.

Since his appointment, GBE has published its strategic plan which outlines priority areas that GBE will focus on, launched its £1bn “Energy, Engineered in the UK” programme, and helped over 250 schools and NHS sites to install solar panels to reduce their energy bills. 

Dan currently sits on the Advisory Board for the University of Aberdeen’s Interdisciplinary Institute to advise on how energy transition matters can be integrated across key areas of research and study.

Prior to GBE, he served as Chief Executive of RenewableUK from May 2021, where he led the organisation through a period of significant growth and delivered major sector change programmes such as the Offshore Wind Industrial Growth Plan and campaigned for lifting the English ban on Onshore Wind. Prior to this Dan had a 17-year career in Siemens where held a number of leadership roles in Energy business including acting as global CEO of Siemens Engines, UK Managing Director of Power Generation and leading Siemens Wind Power’s investment into blade manufacturing in Hull.