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Forensic Geophysicist Jamie Pringle (ON 86-92) Appears on BBC Documentary

29 August 2018

Forensic geophysicist and senior Keele University lecturer Jamie Pringle (ON 86-92) recently appeared on the BBC documentary The Secret Life of Landfill: A Rubbish History.

The documentary, presented by Dr George McGavin and Dr Zoe Laughlin, explored the history of rubbish and charted the evolution of how we use landfill sites. The team conducted a number of tests and digs in landfill sites across the UK in order to discover if landfill items have any value for tomorrow’s world.

As a leading expert in forensic geophysics, which involves locating and mapping hidden objects or features that are underground, Dr Pringle was enlisted to help Dr Laughlin mine for metal objects in the buried landfill site. The aim was to explore the potential possibility of locating and recovering metal from landfill in order to increase the sustainability of metal production and use across the world. Dr Pringle and his team used electromagnetic conductivity to survey the land for metallic elements beneath the surface.

After attending Norwich School from 1986-92, Dr Pringle gained a degree in Geology from Royal Holloway in 1996, before continuing onto a PhD from Heriot-Watt University in 2003. His research focuses have included architectural geometries of reservoir analogues, near-surface geophysics, military and forensic geoscience and he now specialises in forensic geophysics.

Dr Pringle was appointed as a Lecturer at Keele University in 2006 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2014. He was also the recipient of the William Smith Fund (Award) from the Geological Society of London in 2012 which is awarded to those with “published excellence in contributions to applied and economic aspects of geoscience" within 10 years of their PhD.

The Secret Life of Landfill: A Rubbish History is currently available to watch on iPlayer.