Mike Young, an exploration geophysicist, joined the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) in 2004 to manage the first of the Tellus regional geoscience survey projects. He was Director of GSNI from 2011 to 2014, when he also served on the Geosciences Committee of the Royal Irish Academy. Previously he managed national and industrial geophysical exploration projects throughout the Middle East, and in Africa and Latin America. He has published articles on geophysical exploration in arid environments, regional geoscience mapping and groundwater assessment and co-edited A Guide to the Tellus Data.