Greater Oxford Area
David Ray is an experienced earth scientist, teacher and manager with a history of working in the education sector and the energy industry. He is an accomplished speaker, field studies leader, and organiser of academic, industry and educational meetings, and has an established publication record of over 40 scientific papers. David has contributed to academic advisory boards, as well as national and international scientific organisations.
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/gees/ray-david.aspx Within the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, research and preparation of papers based around improving the stratigraphic understanding of the Silurian, with a particular focus on sequence stratigraphy, palaeontology and carbon isotopic excursions. In addition, I’m involved in the co-supervision of related BSc and MSc projects (see publications: Blain et al. 2016; Fry et al. 2017; Ray et al. 2025), and the support of teaching and department hosted conferences.
https://silurian.stratigraphy.org/executive As a Titular (voting) Member of the ISSS I am involved in: the rationalization of global chronostratigraphical classification; intercalibration of fossil biostratigraphies, integrated zonations, and recognition of global datums; establishment of magneto- and chemo-stratigraphic scales; redefinition of stage boundaries and restudy of global boundary stratotype sections; correlation of Silurian rock successions and events, including marine and non-marine; application of astronomically tuned cyclostratigraphy integrated with radiometric data and biostratigraphy. I have voted upon Aeronian, Telychian and Radotinian GSSPs.
As the Secretary of the ISSS I was a member of the executive, responsible for the editing of the Silurian Times (Newsletter of the ISSS), correspondence with the membership, maintaining a membership database, and providing administrative support in preparing annual reports, the selection of new members, and the organisation of votes on academic matters.
http://www.geology.cz/bulletin/board The Bulletin of Geosciences is an international journal publishing original research papers, review articles, and short contributions concerning palaeoenvironmental geology, including palaeontology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeogeography, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology, geochemistry, mineralogy, geophysics, and related fields. As a co-editor I review the suitability of newly submitted manuscripts, and contribute to the peer review and editing process.
Co-supervision of a BSc project within the Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University. The project focused upon sequence stratigraphy and carbon isotopic excursions within the Wenlock (Silurian) of the Usk Inlier (Wales, UK). Responsibilities include project planning, student support, and the organisation of fieldwork.
Scientific governance in the area of stratigraphy, with a focus upon the publication and presentation of stratigraphic research, and the development of new research projects and products. Significant achievements include the release of a Phanerozoic third-order sea-level curve to clients, publications on the magnitude and causes of Cretaceous short-term sea-level change (Ray et al., 2019; Davies et al., 2020), and book chapters on stratigraphical techniques and the geologic record (Simmons et al., 2020; Ray, Gréselle and Nicoll, 2021; Coe and Ray 2022). Additional roles and responsibilities: + Coordinator of Scientific Support and Guidance, which included leading a group of subject matter experts in the delivery of Long-Range Planning guidance, training, mentoring and scientific support. Significant achievements include the development of wikis (within Azure DevOps) to help staff access mentoring and support, and identify online IT training, earth science courses and conference information. + Writer, illustrator (using CorelDRAW) and editor of articles for Halliburton’s client and in-house magazine - Exploration Insights. + Research into the impact of the shape of sea-level curves upon stratigraphic architectures, using Forward Stratigraphic Modelling techniques. + Research into long-term sea-level changes within the Neoproterozoic. + Collaboration with the Stratigraphic Content team lead to design and create a Spotfire dashboard that identifies regional and global changes in stratigraphic patterns. This dashboard and workflow were submitted to the Landmark Patents Team. + A review of workflows associated with the development of a stratigraphic heterogeneity tool for the analysis of wireline log data. + Part of an advisory team investigating the application of machine learning techniques to biostratigraphic data, as well as enhancing well interpretation applications. + University outreach (e.g., career and scientific talks).
Member of the Research Division tasked with keeping the Neftex Sequence Stratigraphic Model, which underpins the majority of Neftex products, at the cutting-edge of global geoscience. Responsibilities include research into Jurassic, Cretaceous and Cenozoic eustatic sea-level change and associated global environmental events (e.g., ocean anoxic events, carbon isotopic excursions, extinctions, and ice ages). This work resulted in significant updates to the Neftex Sequence Stratigraphic Model and associated products. Information on the Neftex Sequence Stratigraphic Model was delivered to staff and clients via meetings, website blog posts, static reports, interactive webpages, and add-ins for use in external software (TimeScale Creator Pro). Additional roles and responsibilities: + In-house timescale and stratigraphy expert. + Leader and co-leader of UK based field trips on sequence stratigraphy (e.g., South Wales, the Welsh Borderlands and Dorset), including a welcome field trip for senior representatives from Halliburton following the acquisition of Neftex Predictions. + Providing training to Halliburton (Landmark) Tech Sales Teams on the Neftex Sequence Stratigraphic Model. Other taught and co-taught courses include: Time in Rocks: Tools and Their Limits; Scientific Writing; various stratigraphic overviews of the geologic record. + University outreach (e.g., career and scientific talks, development of the Earth Model Award, attendance of academic-industry engagement meetings and advisory boards).