Presentation of Professor Julia Slingo Dsc OBE Mr

Presentation of Professor Julia Slingo DSc OBE Mr President It has been a turbulent week in the weather – high winds, lots of rain, highly changeable. Just the sort of thing that excites our distinguished guest, Professor Julia Slingo, Chief Scientist of the UK Met Office. Julia Slingo has been a leading figure in weather and climate research for more than 30 years. She has made profound contributions to the physics of the atmosphere and to the development of the computer models we use for prediction of weather, climate and climate change. Climate science is increasingly interdisciplinary, and she is playing a leading international role in setting the agenda for the physics of the climate system, how climate will change and our response to it. After completing a degree in Physics at University of Bristol, Julia went straight into the front line and moved to the Met Office. Her research focussed on the physics of clouds. Clouds play a key role in regulating Earth’s climate, and Julia Slingo’s pioneering work distilled important physical processes and developed methods for representing clouds in climate models, which are still in use today. It was during this first period at the Met Office that Julia met and married a fellow scientist, Tony Slingo. They worked together on many research topics and published important papers together. Tony died tragically after a sudden illness three years ago. It was a huge shock to everyone. I know that Julia has had tremendous support from their two daughters, Mary and Anna, and I am delighted that they have been able to join us for this celebration today. Julia moved to the University of Reading in 1990. She established a group researching the climate of the tropics, which quickly became world leading. Climate change is expected to hit particularly hard the tropical regions and the often-poor communities that live there. She has led high-level education and research collaborations between India, China and the UK to help take this work directly to the people that will be affected most. Professor Slingo is now playing a leading role in developing the next-generation of climate models. She led a UK-Japan collaboration to use the ‘Earth Simulator’ – an enormous computer that she and her team used to produce climate simulations of unprecedented detail. She was instrumental in the organization and success of the recent World Modelling Summit for Climate Prediction, which brought together scientists, computer manufacturers and decision makers to set policy for next-generation climate prediction. During her “spare time” at Reading Julia initiated the Walker Institute for Climate System Research at the University of Reading and became its founding director. The Walker Institute for Climate System Research brings together the unrivalled breadth and depth of climate expertise that exists within the University of Reading is now well known for the advice it provides to industry and Government. Prof Slingo has held the most senior leading roles in climate science. She was the Director of Climate Research in the UK National Centre for Atmospheric Science. She contributed to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, which argued the economic case for acting now on climate change. And she contributed to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which concluded that global warming is unequivocal and it is very likely that human activity is responsible for the warming in recent decades. Julia Slingo has been a fantastic role model for women in science. She was promoted to a personal chair at a time when there were few female university professors. In 2008 she became the first woman President of the Royal Meteorological Society. In 2008 she was awarded an OBE for services to climate science. And in 2009 she became the first women Chief Scientist of the UK Met Office. The position of Chief Scientist of the UK Met Office is the meteorological equivalent of the Astronomer Royal. She has brought exceptional energy to this role, and has had to tackle some very difficult issues. Soon after arriving she successfully battled against a serious funding crisis, provided national leadership during the “Climategate” email hacking story, and coordinated the response to forecasting the passage of the ash plumes during the Icelandic volcano eruptions. But it is not all work. While at Reading, Julia enjoyed having cricket scores showing live in the corner of her computer screen. I shall be moving to the Met Office in January and so will be interested to know whether she has instigated this scheme across the Met Office. Mr Chancellor, I present Professor Julia Slingo for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science of this University. Professor Stephen Belcher Joint Met Office Chair in Weather Systems Department of Meteorology December 2011 .

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