Jim Buckman received a BSc in Geological Sciences from Aston University in 1986, and a Phd in ichnological studies (trace fossils) from Queen's University Belfast in 1992. Since 1998 he has been running the scanning electron microscopy facility, at the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, and currently also manages the institutes X-ray tomography facility. He undertakes research in a range of areas, mainly within the earth and biological sciences: mudrocks, limestones, diagenesis, heavy minerals, wetability studies, protists (mainly testate amoebae), tube forming annelids. He is a member of the Royal Society of Microscopy.