(L-R) Professor David Stephenson, Professor Tim Palmer (President of the Royal Meteorological Society) and Professor Jim Haywood.

Exeter professors win research prizes from the Royal Meteorological Society

Professor David Stephenson and Professor Jim Haywood in Mathematics at the University of Exeter have won prestigious research prizes from the Royal Meteorological Society.

Professor David Stephenson has been awarded the Adrian Gill prize for making a significant interdisciplinary contribution by “bringing statistical rigour to the analysis of weather and climate in a way that does not bamboozle the non-statistically minded”.

Professor Stephenson commented: “I am honoured to receive this recognition of my achievements at the interface of climate and mathematical science. Statistical reasoning can provide fundamental insight on weather and climate processes and is essential for improving and assessing our ability to predict such complex systems.”

Professor Jim Haywood has been awarded the Buchan prize for work on measurements and modelling of the impact of Saharan dust in climate, work judged to contain the most important original contribution or contributions to meteorology. “I am delighted to receive this prize, and would like to thank those Met Office, Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements, and University colleagues whose hard work made these aircraft measurements possible in extremely challenging and hostile environments.”

Both professors are jointly funded by the Met Office and the University of Exeter as part of the Met Office Academic Partnership. They lead storm risk and aerosol research groups in the Exeter Climate Systems research centre based within the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences.

The prizes were presented on 16 May 2012 at the Royal Meteorological Society’s Annual General Meeting held at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Through its science strategy, the University is investing £230 million of internal and external income in five key themes of activity, one of which is Climate Change and Sustainable Futures.

Date: 17 May 2012