Christophe Poinssot

Christophe POINSSOT is the delegate CEO of BRGM, the French national geological service. Alongside the president, he manages this research and expertise institution responsible for studying and supporting public policies related to the subsurface, particularly in the areas of groundwater resource management, strategic metal supply, natural hazards and their technological impact, developing knowledge of the national geological territory. From 2020 to 2024, he also held the position of scientific director of the institution, and in 2023 and 2024, he served as the president of EuroGeoSurveys, an association that brings together all the national geological services in Europe. 

Before joining BRGM, he worked at the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), where he led growing R&D teams from 2000 to 2018 in the field of the back-end of nuclear fuel cycle (fuel recycling, waste storage) and the environmental impact of nuclear energy. From 2018 to 2020, he served as nuclear counselor at the French Embassy in China (Beijing) and CEA’s representative in the country. He is the author of more than 60 articles in international journals (impact factor > 28) and over 120 oral presentations at international conferences. His work on the sustainability of nuclear energy earned him the Roger Van Geen prize from the Scientific Research Foundation (Belgium). Christophe Poinssot is a former student of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he graduated in Earth Sciences and Materials Science. He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science (1997) and an Habilitation to manage Research (HDR) in Chemistry (2007). He is also graduated from the Institute of Advanced National Defense Studies (2023). He was elected in 2024 as member of the French Academy of Technologies.