It is with deep sadness that we have learned of the death of Professor Keith Jeffery on 15 January 2026. Keith lived in Faringdon, and in addition to his exceptional achievements in the fields of IT, data and knowledge engineering, he was also a passionate advocate for the Campaign to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development.

Keith’s PhD was in Geology and he was the youngest ever elected Fellow of the Geological Society, an honour awarded in the same year he completed his doctorate. Keith was Director of IT and International Strategy at the Science and Technology Facilities Research Council (STFC), and former Director of IT at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories. He had been Group Leader for the Natural Environment Research Council and the British Geological Survey. Throughout his influential career he was a leader and innovator in data science and research, in particular, in relation to complex natural systems. Among recent projects Keith was involved in DT-GEO, a project to create a digital twin of the earth’s geophysical extremes such as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and anthropogenic hazards.

I first encountered Keith in July 2023 after he left a blistering objection on the Vale of White Horse District Council’s website to the proposal to build a 48,000 sq.m. development on top of Wicklesham Quarry. Referring to his credentials as a Fellow of the Geological Society, he declared he was “violently opposed” to the proposal, which he had learned about after local Wicklesham supporters leafleted much of Faringdon to let residents know about the consultation.

After reading Keith’s objection I rushed round to drop a letter through his door. That was the beginning of an active email correspondence and collaboration that continued until his illness in 2025. Keith wrote a substantial report on the SSSI which he submitted to Oxfordshire County Council together with his ‘violent objection’. Later, both the Geological Society and the Palaeontological Association submitted their own objections to the proposal. Both Keith and I corresponded with the Chief Scientist Directorate of Natural England, pointing out that Wicklesham Quarry was both a ‘type site’ and a ‘finite site’- which means that building on top of it would mean the end of research on one of the UK’s oldest and most important SSSIs – the only location where the unique Faringdon Sponge Gravels can be studied. Keith also emphasised that buildings would permanently obscure the palaeogeography of the site, blocking 3-dimensional views of the strata and landscape. This would also destroy the value of Wicklesham Quarry for teaching purposes.

As well as taking every opportunity to explain his objections on scientific grounds to policy makers, he generously helped me to further my knowledge of different hypotheses concerning the complex formation of the unique Sponge Gravels and Faringdon Trough, and directed me towards sources of information on various questions. Keith’s lively interest in the physical world and warm and engaging manner will be remembered by everyone who met him. Local supporters were treated to an animated and highly informative impromptu talk on the exceptional conditions that occurred over tens of millions of years at Wicklesham, on the side of the Golden Ridge, where a river broke through an already fossilised coral reef, ultimately leading to a never to be repeated conjunction between fossils of the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods.

Thank you for your kindness, passion and brilliance, Keith. We shall deeply miss you.