Colin Summerhayes is an Emeritus Associate of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. He is a marine geologist and oceanographer with expertise in the role of climate in forming marine sediments, and in interpreting the history of climate from sedimentary records. He is a former Manager of the Stratigraphy Branch of the Exploration Division of BP Research, and former Director of the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory, Wormley.