Rob Vernon was born in Liverpool in 1945. He graduated in 1969 with a BSc (Hons) in geology from London University. Between 1969 and 1993 he held a variety of senior posts as a geologist in the British coal industry (deep mines), where he became familiar with downhole geophysical logging and seismic surveying. After leaving the coal industry, Rob gained an MSc in Archaeological Prospection in 1995, from the Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford where he continued to conduct part-time research on the geophysical responses produced by British smelting sites. He was awarded a PhD in 2004. He has published various papers on his PhD topic and is currently researching the early history of geophysical prospection in Britain. Rob is also a Chartered Geologist, a Chartered Scientist and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.
Rob's other interest is mining history. He has co-written a series of books on the lead mining history of the Conway Valley and the Llanengan area in North Wales. He is also involved with the National Association of Mining History Organisations and has edited three editions of their handbook. Rob will be presenting a paper on the 'early history of geophysical prospection' at the International Mining History Congress, Bhubaneswar, India in December 2007.