Catherine Truffert, the Chair of BRGM's subsidiary IRIS Instruments, receives the Legion of Honour

An inspirational career path

Catherine Truffert started her academic journey by obtaining a Master's in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Montpellier under the guidance of R. Bayer in 1989. She then continued her studies at the Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris, where she defended her PhD thesis in Geophysics and Geodynamics – under the supervision of Xavier Le Pichon – in 1992. Her thesis, based on unique two-vessel acquisition of seismic data off the coast of Crete, led to a better understanding of the complex geodynamic processes from the compression of the Mediterranean Ridge to the extension in the Aegean Sea. After her thesis, she did a post-doctorate at IFP Energies Nouvelles from 1992 to 1993.

Career at BRGM

Catherine joined the French Geological Survey (BRGM - Bureau de Recherche Géologiques et Minières) in 1993, where she held a number of positions with increasing responsibility. She started out as a Project Manager, focusing on airborne geophysics projects. She contributed to the national GéoFrance 3D programme, whose objective was to establish a 3D image of France based on geological knowledge and numerous geophysical data acquisitions. In 2000, she was appointed Head of the Modelling & Applications Unit, where she reinforced the team's research activity. 

From 2002 to 2007, Catherine was Deputy Director of the Geological Knowledge and Knowledge Dissemination Department at BRGM. In this role, she managed the department's research and international activities, including a multi-year airborne geophysics project in Gabon, financed by the European Development Fund.

In 2007, she became the Director of this department, which employed more than 100 people and was renamed the Geology Department by its members after a participatory reform. This department was responsible for managing France's Geological Mapping Programme, a project lasting several decades. During her time in this position, Catherine also oversaw the coordination of international geological mapping programmes (Gabon, Senegal, Madagascar, Ghana, Mali, etc.).

Move to IRIS Instruments

In 2010, Catherine was appointed Director of Research at BRGM, where she coordinated the organisation's various programmes, promoted interdisciplinary projects and organised partnerships at regional, national and European levels. She also played a crucial role in seeking funding for research activities and in negotiations with various bodies, such as the Commissariat Général à l'Investissement and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche.

In 2015, she joined IRIS Instruments as its Director of Strategy, in charge of defining the company's strategy and business plan for the next ten years and studying markets that could be positive for the company's development. In 2017, she was promoted to the position of managing Director and Chair of IRIS Instruments, where she developed and implemented strategies that enabled the company to increase its turnover, which was mainly generated from business in international markets. She also put in place an agile and responsible organisational structure, geared towards greater efficiency, while respecting social and community values, in line with her firm belief that recognising and developing the skills and expertise of the organisation's teams is a key factor for ensuring its day-to-day success.

Professionals and academic commitments

Catherine Truffert also plays an active role in a number of professional and academic organisations. Since 2021, she has been the Executive Chair of the CRESITT Technical Resource Centre, which specialises in electronics. She was a member of the board of directors of the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) from 2018 to 2023 and has chaired the Nantes Observatory of the Sciences of the Universe (OSUC) since 2014.

She is on the Scientific Advisory Boards of various institutions, including CSTB, Institute Mines Telecom and ISTERRE. She has been the Chair of CSTB's Scientific Advisory Board since 2024.

Internationally, she is a member of the Near Surface Committee of the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers and chaired the Near Surface section of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists from 2019 to 2020. 

She has also been a member of the board of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists since 2022.

Academic contributions and publications

Catherine has contributed to over 100 scientific publications and presentations, covering a wide range of subjects such as 3D geological mapping, 3D electrical imaging of the subsurface and muon tomography. Her work has been presented at international conferences and published in leading scientific journals.