Press Releases
New director for Walker Institute
Release Date : 29 May 2007
A world authority on climate change has been appointed as director of the University of Reading's newly formed Walker Institute for Climate System Research.
Professor Nigel Arnell, currently head of Geography at Southampton University, will take up the position in August.
He has been involved in climate change research since the late 1980s, and is a key member of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Professor Arnell's research focuses on the impacts of climate change on river flows, water resources and their management. A lead author in the second, third and fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments, he has also contributed to the recent Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change.
Professor Arnell said: "I am very pleased and honoured to be taking on the role of Director of the Walker Institute. It's a very exciting time for climate science, with this year's publication of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report, for example, and climate is rarely out of the news.
"We clearly need to know more about how and why climate processes and characteristics will change over the next few years and decades, and try to estimate what the consequences of these changes might be for the economy, society and environment.
"Reading has an excellent record in innovative and relevant climate and impacts science. I'm looking forward to developing this further and encouraging the new collaborations that are necessary for progress in this increasingly inter-disciplinary field."
Professor Arnell, who also studied for his PhD and BSc at Southampton in the 1980s before returning to lecture there, will take over the reins from Professor Julia Slingo, acting director of the Walker Institute and climate director at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science.
Professor Gordon Marshall, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading, said: "I am delighted Nigel is joining us. His calibre reflects the high standard of work going on at the Walker Institute. As it goes from strength to strength, Nigel is the ideal candidate to move the institute forward. He has the vision, leadership skills and experience to make it the leading climate change research centre in the UK and we welcome him."
The Walker Institute brings together the unrivalled breadth and depth of climate expertise that exists within the University of Reading. It is composed of a number of internationally renowned research groups from across the University of Reading which cover a wide range of expertise including meteorology, oceanography, agriculture, geography, hydrology, ecosystem processes and soil science.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
For more information about Walker Institute involvement please contact: University of Reading media relations manager Lucy Ferguson on +44 (0)118 378 7388, or Walker Institute communications manager Kathy Maskell on +44 (0)118 378 7380, or visit the Walker Institute website
The Walker Institute for Climate System Research is a leading UK climate research centre based at the University of Reading. Our research is focussed on understanding climate, in order to deliver better knowledge of future climate and its impacts for the benefit of society.