Prof. Mike Stephenson was President of the IUGS Deep-time Digital Earth program between 2019 and 2021. He was instrumental in founding the DDE initiative developing its statutes and chairing the early meetings of the Governing Council. Mike has 25 years experience in energy and geological science and research, including 8 years national level science leadership as the UK’s chief geologist (Executive Chief Scientist and Director of Science and Technology of the British Geological Survey).