The Chris King Award

The Chris King Award

Nominations are invited for the 2025 Chris King Award for teachers who show “outstanding contribution to geology education”. If you would like to nominate someone you can do so on this page once the submission process opens during the annual conference in September.

Emeritus Professor Chris King

The Chris King Award

Chris King was a highly influential, long-serving member of ESTA, as Chair, and as Secondary Convener for more than four decades. His service Earth Science Education in general and ESTA in particular was truly remarkable. The Earth Science Education Unit, established during his time at Keele University (where he was Professor of Earth Science Education) trained nearly 40,000 teachers and benefitted more than 1 million GCSE and A Level students. Chris' ability to engage people of all backgrounds in the study of geology was unparalleled. Chris retired from Keele in December 2015 but, as Emeritus Professor, maintained his work in geological education.

In particular, he established the Geoscience Education Summer School to train science and geography teachers to teach UK geology specifications up to A level. As Chair of the European Geosciences Education Committee (EGU) he set up a team of geosciences teachers and researchers and trained them as Geoscience Education Field Officers (GEFO) to provide professional development to school, in-service and pre-service, teachers across Europe.

Sadly, Chris passed away in February 2022 after a battle with cancer. A large specimen of amethyst, along with a plastic base and an inscription plate, was purchased as the Chris King Award, to be presented annually to members who have furthered the educational aims of ESTA, showing an ‘outstanding contribution to geological education’.

Recipients of the award are listed below.

Professor Chris King

Nominations for 2025 open in:

Make a nomination

Please give the full name of the person you are nominating.
Please tell us the best way to contact your nominee, if known. This should either be direct contact details or the name of an organisation that most closely reflects the work of the nominee in relation to this award.

Please tell us why your nomination should receive the Chris King Award for Geoscience, noting that they should be a person who has furthered the aims of ESTA, clearly demonstrating an outstanding contribution to geological education. Nominations are normally between 200 and 500 words.


Alternatively, you can upload a pre-written nomination below.

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Recipients

The first Award was presented at the 2022 Leicester Conference, jointly to Elizabeth Devon and Peter Kennett, mainly for their work as part of the three-person team of Earthlearningidea, started by Chris in 2007/8 and still going strong. Elizabeth and her husband took the Award home on the train, while Peter was content with displaying a photograph of it, only to be surprised at the half-year point to receive the actual Award in the post from Elizabeth!

At the 2023 ESTA conference, Pete Loader was presented with the award in recognition of his multifarious and energetic activities on behalf of the Association, including the incomparable Summer School and his sterling service for Geology at the WJEC, Geological Society Council and other bodies.

This year's recipients are jointly husband and wife, Peter and Maggie Williams. 

Maggie has been a very long-term active member of ESTA, going back to the early days of the Association’s involvement in reviewing the Earth science content of school textbooks, and in curriculum development, 40 years ago. She has served as ESTA Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Assistant Editor of TES and also Chair. Maggie was made an Honorary Member in 2014.

Although much of his involvement has been behind the scenes, Peter has also had a very long involvement with ESTA, including Webmaster for a seven-year period but also supporting the website and online materials for many more years outside of his formal involvement. He has been instrumental in supporting decades of ESTA CPD through his work at Liverpool University.