Professor William (Bill) Austin is former chair of the Marine Studies Group and a Professor in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews. He graduated in Geology from University College London and holds a Masters in Micropalaeontology and Doctorate in Ocean Sciences, completed with joint supervision from the British Geological Survey. He has held research fellowships from the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is a founding member and continues to serve on the UK Natural Environment Research Council Peer Review College. After a Lectureship at the University of Durham, Bill moved to St Andrews in 1999 as Reader; he was appointed Professor in 2015. He also holds a visiting chair appointment at the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences, where he is Professor of Marine Geology. Bill is Chair of the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum (Scottish Government), sits on the steering group of the Scottish Forum on Natural Capital and leads the United Nations Decade Programme for Blue Carbon in the Global Ocean (GO-BC)(UNESCO).