World-leading climate change scientist to join Keele University
Professor Chris Fogwill, a leader in climate change research, has been announced as the new Head of School for Geography, Geology and the Environment.
Professor Fogwill is joining Keele University in August, leaving his post at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, where he was awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship in 2012. Professor Fogwill was based at the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC), the leading hub for climate system modelling in the Southern Hemisphere, where he worked closely with some of the world’s leading Earth Systems modellers based at the CCRC and internationally. His work has provided new insights into Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics and Southern Ocean circulation that have improved projections of high-latitude environmental change and global sea-level rise, helping inform on one of the key socioeconomic impacts of climate change.
Professor Fogwill is a leader in the fields of geochemistry, glaciology and climate change research, and his work straddles the traditional disciplines of palaeoclimatology, glaciology and climate modelling. Over the past decade, his research – using innovative techniques to reconstruct past climate and ice-sheet change – has been instrumental in defining the linkages between ice, climate and sea level over timescales from centuries to millennia. His work in this field not only improves our understanding of the global climate system, but also reduces the uncertainty in future climate projections.
Professor Fogwill obtained his BSc in Geological Oceanography at the University of Bangor in North Wales in 1995, and then joined the Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge University as a postgraduate research assistant in the palaeoceanography group. This was followed by a PhD at the University of Edinburgh focused on ice-sheet reconstruction and modelling in Antarctica and Patagonia. After a NERC-funded postdoctoral research position within the School of Geoscience at Edinburgh, Chris took up a position as Senior Lecturer and Director of Programme in Physical Geography at the University of Exeter in 2007, which was followed by the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship in 2012.
Professor Fogwill is also an Associate Editor for Antarctic Science and the Nature family journal Scientific Reports; is a member of the Earth’s Past Future Research Network, and leads the PRECISE Network, a consortium of leading Asia-Pacific researchers focused on the projection of future sea-level rise.
In joining Keele as Head of School and Chair in Glaciology and Palaeoclimatology, he will develop new capacity for the analysis of ice cores and cosmogenic nuclides within the School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Sciences, as well as drive new directions in climate and ice-sheet modelling with colleagues from both the School of Computer Science and Mathematics and his wider international network.
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Natural Sciences Professor Jonathan Wastling, said: “We are delighted to welcome Professor Chris Fogwill to the Faculty of Natural Sciences. His role as Head of the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment is crucial to the ongoing growth and success of the Faculty. He has considerable ability to provide academic leadership and ensure the continued strategic development of the School. I am looking forward to welcoming him to the Faculty of Natural Sciences leadership team.”