John Thompson has a BA from Oxford University and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto. In 1982, he joined the BP Minerals group (Rio Tinto) initially in Australia, followed by positions in the UK and Salt Lake. In 1991, John became Director of the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at the University of British Columbia. He returned to industry in 1998 as Chief Geoscientist for Teck, and then Vice President Technology and Development. He left Teck in 2012 and is now the World Professor of Environmental Balance for Human Sustainability at Cornell University and Principal, PetraScience Consultants based in Vancouver, an exploration, development and technology consultancy.
John is Chair of Genome BC’s Board of Directors, a member of the Global Futures Council on Advanced Materials with the World Economic Forum, and Chair for the Resources for Future Generations 2018 conference.
He was a co-founder of Geoscience BC and the Canada Mining Innovation Council. He has board and advisory positions with public and private companies and other organizations.
