A Day in the Life of… Andy King

I’m Andy King, one of Geckoella’s Directors and Principal Geologist. I obtained both my Degree in Geology and my PhD from Swansea University. My research involved the study of fossil cephalopods from Baltoscandia, and I spent several amazing months working in Sweden at the Natural History Museum, Stockholm and the Geological Survey, Uppsala. I’m also a Fellow of the Geological Society and a member of the CIEEM.

Kate and I set up Geckoella in 2007. Originally, we were based in Sri Lanka, but since 2011 have gradually moved back to the UK and now live ‘full-time’ in West Somerset. Before Geckoella, I was a geologist working from Cambridge University and undertaking field surveys in such exotic places as East Greenland and the Carpathian Mountains, Poland. I then joined English Nature as a Senior Geologist before being promoted to Area Manager for Somerset, ‘Avon’ and Gloucestershire. Apart from my specialist training as a palaeontologist, I have a strong interest in building stones, especially their petrology, detecting their original sources and identifying where future supplies may be found. I’ve also always been fascinated by volcanoes and types of igneous rocks – if I wasn’t a palaeontologist, I think I would have liked to be a volcanologist.

In my spare time, I enjoy most things coastal, am a keen shell and stamp collector and a
lover of sci-fi, the supernatural and seafood!

I probably don’t have many ‘typical days! My time splits roughly 60:40 between being a
Director and a Geologist, but this varies from day-to-day. The former involves me in
attending meetings with Geckoella staff, liaising with existing clients and developing new ones, keeping working relationships and partnerships on track, helping run the company and providing a supportive and leadership role; the latter may involve me identifying thin-sections of building stones under a microscope, or writing/checking technical reports – sometimes ecological reports, not just geological ones!