Welcome to the August/September issue of the AGS Magazine. I trust you will find it as informative as always.

I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible as we celebrate a return to face-to-face events in the form of our Annual Conference on the 22^nd September this year. The event will be held at the excellent Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, as in previous years. We are working with the venue to provide a safe environment considering the coronavirus climate and each delegate pack will contain individual aids. We have excellent speakers and sponsors confirmed and you can read more about these in this edition of the Magazine.  Please register your attendance to support this worthwhile event.

We will of course be continuing our programme of on-line seminars too, and you can read about these in this edition. The next webinar is a free-of-charge exploration of Geotechnical Engineering in a Net Zero Carbon World.

In addition to the latest AGS news, this month’s Magazine highlights the strategy for sampling the ground for the determination of Volatile Organic Compounds and features an insight into the life of an engineering geologist within one of the UK’s major site investigation contractors. We also present an overview by the new Contaminated Land Working Group Leader, Alex Lee, and an informative Q&A session with Hugh Mallet, Technical Director and SiLC.

Sally Hudson