Mark Cuthbert is a Principal Research Fellow in the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, and a member of the Water Research Institute, at Cardiff University, UK. He is a groundwater scientist with wide interests including water resources sustainability and modelling, especially in dryland environments. He has worked extensively overseas including on several research and charitable international development projects in Africa regarding water security and the impact of climate change on groundwater resources.

Mark currently holds a UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Independent Research Fellowship focussed on quantifying groundwater recharge in global drylands which directly complements the DOWN2EARTH research programme. Mark is the leader of the DOWN2EARTH Model Development Team with particular emphasis on developing the dryland water balance modelling components of the project.