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IMI Public Lecture: How can scientists influence public policy? The long road to the US ozone standard of 0.075 ppm and beyond

This event will take place on Wednesday 21st September 2016 from 7.30 - 9pm at Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath. This event is free and open to all. Book your free ticket at this website.

Speaker: Professor James Zidek, IMI Global Chair

Abstract: Scientists are increasingly called on to quantify global risk and assist in policymaking. A prominent example is the involvement of the Nobel Prize Winning IPCC panel in setting climate change policies. In this talk world-renowned scientist, Professor Jim Zidek will share his personal involvement in setting US ozone standards, which exemplifies how many scientists today find themselves at the centre of the policy-making process. Jim will also share the story of how he came to serve on the scientific panel that recommended the new 0.075 ppm ozone standard. Join us for an enthralling narrative of the interaction between science and public policy.

Fourth Annual CliMathNet Conference 2016 - Accepting abstracts for both platform and poster presentations. 5 - 8th July 2016. University of Exeter.

*** Best Student Poster Competition *** Submit your abstracts ASAP for consideration.

Conference registration is open. The deadline for Earlybird registration is the 2nd May 2016.

ReCoVER Feasibility Funding call Deadline. 29th April 2016

ReCoVER's third call for Feasbility funding is now open. Please visit the ReCoVER Funding webpage for more information https://sites.google.com/site/recoverlwec/funding/apply-for-funding.

SECURE Feasibility Funding Call Deadline. 18th April 2016

SECURE's second call for Feasibility projects is now open.

Funding of up to £25,000 is available per project; please note projects applying for less than this maximum are welcome. Successful Lead applicants on the first call (May 2015) may not apply as Lead applicants on this call but can be a partner. Before starting to prepare your application please read all the documents reached by the links on the right.

For more information visit: http://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/secure/feasibilityprojects/

Dynamics and Statistics of the Climate System: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Editor-in-chief: Professor Christopher Jones

Editors: Professor Peter Challenor, Professor Baylor Fox-Kemper, Professor Beatrice Pelloni

Dynamics and Statistics of the Climate System provides a high-quality forum for the interdisciplinary field of quantitative climate research. The journal encourages the interaction between physicists, statisticians, mathematicians, computer scientists and earth scientists in the development of new models and methods applied to the analysis of the climate system.

For more information, please visit http://climatesystem.oxfordjournals.org/

ReCoVER Funding Call. Deadline for applications is 17th September 2015.

A second call for ReCoVER funding is currently open, and we are inviting applications for pilot studies, research projects with partner organisations and projects specifically for eary career researchers, in addition to applications for small projects and meetings. The aim of ReCoVER is to encourage development and use of novel mathematical tools and applications for understanding, predicting and managing the effects of environmental change, in particular where it relates to climate variability and impacts on societal resilience.

The deadline is 18:00 on 17th September 2015 for completed applications to be considered in the round.

We also consider proposals for smaller projects (up to £2K) on a rolling basis. Further information about this funding is available at the .

IPCC Synthesis Report Published, 2nd November 2014

The IPCC has published the Synthesis Report for the Fifth Assessment Report. The synthesis report brings together the findings of the three working group reports published earlier as part of AR5 including relevant special reports. It provides an integrated view of climate change, as the final part of the IPCC's AR5.

Space Weather Forecasting Centre

The Met Office has opened a new Space Weather Forecasting Centre at their base in Exeter, in collaboration with a range of partners, including the University of Bath, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Centre, Science and Technology Facilities Council(STFC), British Geological Survey (BGS), RAL Space, British Antarctic Survey and several other universities and research organisations to optimise the use of data, knowledge and models.

The Centre will provide critical information about the effects and impact of magnetic fields, radiation, particles and matter which have been ejected from the Sun and which can interact with the Earth's upper atmosphere and cause major impacts such as interruptions to communication and power systems, as well as damage to spacecraft.

The press release from the Met Office can be found here.

Sandpit: Water Energy Food Nexus - Call for expressions of interest

This Sandpit is being led by EPSRC with the support of three RCUK cross-council programmes: Living with Environmental Change, The Energy Programme and the Global Food Security Programme; and the UK cross-government /industry UK Water Research Innovation Partnership.

EPSRC hope that this sandpit will enable UK researchers to perform transformative research on the water energy food nexus, potentially taking revolutionary approaches to the complex challenges in this area.

It is expected that £4-5 million of Research Council funding will be made available to fund research projects arising from this sandpit with additional computational modelling support from STFC.

Further information and the expression of interest form can be found on the EPSRC website.

Defra is currently recruiting two new members of the Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC)

The ASC has a statutory role under the Climate Change Act of 2008 to assess progress on the National Adaptation Programme every two years (first one in July 2015), and to provide advice to inform the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA, advice in the form of an Evidence Report due July 2016). The Adaptation Sub-Committee is also designated under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to perform an independent assessment of the Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme (first report due in September 2016). In addition, non-statutory progress reports have to date been published each year.

The vacancies are advertised on the Cabinet Office public appointments website: http://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/applications/54185e82e4b07e661e64f381

The deadline for applications is 7th October 2014.

Call for Evidence: draft adaptation indicators

Closing date: Tuesday 30 September 2014

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) carries out consultations and calls for evidence to gather the views of a wide range of climate change experts when developing its advice. The Adaptation Sub-Committee (run by the CCC) intends to use a set of indicators to prepare its statutory report on the National Adaptation Programme in 2015. The Committee is now requesting views on this draft set of indicators, specifically on how relevant and complete they are.

To respond to the call for evidence and for further information see: http://www.theccc.org.uk/media-centre/consultations/

Met Office Wildfire Workshop 2014

Announcing the second workshop on weather and climate-related aspects of wildfire research, to be held at the Met Office, Exeter on 3rd-5th December 2014.

The workshop will build relationships across the national community of providers and users of wildfire information relating to weather and climate, providing opportunities for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and ultimately building the research capacity of the community. It will also draw on the international expertise in this area, both in research and decision making.

To this end the Met Office invite submissions of abstracts for this year’s workshop under one of the following themes:
• Advances in modelling – from fire propagation modelling to the introduction of wildfire feedbacks into earth system modelling.
• Observations and impacts – ground based, flight or remote sensing of fires, and measuring and predicting the impact of wildfire.
• Wildfire information for hazard response and decision making.

Please submit abstracts to by 15th September 2014. Registration for attending the workshop will close on 5th November 2014. For more details please see the attached announcement or contact .

MCRN course: Introduction to the Mathematics of Climate

Richard McGehee will teach Introduction to the Mathematics of Climate in the autumn of 2014.

Classes will be streamed online on Mondays and Wednesday, 3:30-4:45pm ET, as well as recorded for later viewing. MCRN students should make arrangements with their mentors/advisors at their home institutions to take the course as an independent study or reading course for full credit. The course will begin on September 3rd. A brief description and syllabus is available here. Any student who is interested in the class is encouraged to email .

The videos and slides from the lectures will be posted at this website.

Professor Sir David Speigelhalter

CliMathNet would like to congratulate one of our members, Professor Sir David Speigelhalter, on receiving a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List ins 2014 for services to statistics.

NERC Request for Evidence: NERC Centres for Doctoral Training

NERC is introducing a new way to identify and prioritise focused training needs in the UK environmental sciences. This method will inform NERC training investments, and in particular topic areas for future calls for NERC Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT). As part of this, anyone may submit an Evidence Input form - a short three-page form outlining evidence of a training need suitable for a CDT investment.

The closing date for submissions is 16:00 on 12th September 2014, and further information is available on their website.

IPCC Thematic Briefings

The Institute for Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge have developed a range of sector specific briefings based on the latest Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report, including a Climate Science report.

The briefings and reports are available to download at their website.

New Journal: Advances in Statistical Climatology, Meteorology and Oceanography

A new open access journal has been launched by STATMOS (Research Network for Statistical Methods for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences).

The new journal, Advances in Statistical Climatology, Meteorology and Oceanography (ASCMO), will serve at the interface of statistics and the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. The journal will allow statisticians and mathematicians the opportunity to reach more scientists while publishing cutting-edge statistical methodology. It will also allow researchers in climatology, meteorology and oceanography an outlet to publish more details of their statistical and computational mathematical developments which will lead to improved models and methods for this important area.

Please see the website for more information.

Environmental Risks to Infrastructure Innovation Funding Call

NERC wishes to fund scientists to apply their knowledge and skills to support decision-makers dealing with the challenge of managing environmental risks to infrastructure.

Background
This Innovation funding call is intended to support the establishment and development of partnerships between academics and partners in industry (including infrastructure owners and operators, engineering consultants, contractors, insurance and investors), associated policy-making, regulatory bodies and NGOs, in order to translate existing environmental science to assist decision-makers with the challenge of managing environmental risks to infrastructure.

Scope
NERC refers to infrastructure as the physical, built environment and its key systems:
• Transport systems, such as roads, rail, airports, ports, canals, bridges and tunnels;
• Utilities systems, such as distribution networks, power generation facilities (electricity, gas, renewables, oil and gas platforms) and water;
• Environmental management systems, such as sewerage, waste, green infrastructure, flood management and drainage;
• Communications systems that connect the various physical infrastructure assets, such as smart services, telecommunications, broadband and satellites.

The proposals must specify a stakeholder (i.e. business, policy or NGO) issue that the project will address and develop tangible outcomes for the stakeholder’s organisation. Each proposal must have a project partner from the stakeholder organisation who helps identify the specific issue and is willing to provide resources to shape the proposal, steer the project (in conjunction with the academic) and report on outcomes and impact on their organisation.

A workshop to initiate collaborations between academics and stakeholders will be held in London on 20th May. To participate in the event, please contact Dr Vera Hazelwood at

To discuss project and proposal ideas, please contact:

Vera Hazelwood

www.pure-network.org

The Department for International Development and Natural Environment Research Council announce a new £20m 5-year research programme 'Future Climate for Africa'.

Future Climate for Africa (FCFA), is a new five-year international research programme jointly funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The Programme will support research to better understand climate variability and change across sub-Saharan Africa. Its focus will be on advancing scientific knowledge, understanding and prediction of African climate variability and change on 5 to 40 year timescales, together with support for better integration of science into longer-term decision making, leading to improved climate risk management and the protection of lives and livelihoods.

FCFA projects will be delivered through collaborative partnerships of the world's best researchers. The programme's success will be measured by the way that its research generates new knowledge which can be used to benefit the poor in a sustainable manner.

More information can be found at the NERC website.

Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) - Call For Evidence

The Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) has issued a call for evidence to identify relevant published information which will feed into the evidence report for the next Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) which is due in 2017.

The report will include sections focussing on characterising the future in terms of the climate science and approaches to analysis and understanding risk; the natural environment, and risks and opportunities associated with landuse in rural areas; infrastructure including flooding, storms and water availability and quality; business risks and global security.

The deadline for submissions of evidence to the ASC is 30 April 2014.

More information and the call for evidence:
http://www.theccc.org.uk/tackling-climate-change/preparing-for-climate-change/climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/

Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) Report - Lead Authors Needed

The Adaptation Sub-Committee of the Committee on Climate Change are seeking seven lead contributors to help in drafting the evidence report for the next UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, due in 2016. The project specification and further details are available on contracts finder under the reference “Contributors2014” - https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/. The closing date is 10am on 14^th April.

The call for evidence for the next CCRA is still open until 30^th April. Details are available here http://www.theccc.org.uk/tackling-climate-change/preparing-for-climate-change/climate-change-risk-assessment-2017/

- See more at: http://www.lwec.org.uk/news/24032014-1158/ccra-evidence-report-lead-authors-needed#sthash.HxVasdxa.dpuf

- See more at: http://www.lwec.org.uk/news/24032014-1158/ccra-evidence-report-lead-authors-needed#sthash.GgoWbCZH.dpuf

MPE2013 moves into Mathematics of Planet Earth

The successful year-long initiative will continue past 2013.

MONTREAL, December 11, 2013 – On January 1, 2014, the international project “Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013” (MPE2013) will continue as “Mathematics of Planet Earth” (MPE). The objectives remain unchanged – identify fundamental research questions about Planet Earth and reach out to the general public.

MPE2013 was the brainchild of Christiane Rousseau, professor of mathematics at Université de Montréal and vice-president of the International Mathematics Union. As Prof. Rousseau observed, “Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 has been a great start and the level of cooperation demonstrated by MPE2013 is unprecedented. But identifying the research problems is not enough. Mathematics moves slowly, the planetary problems are very challenging, and we cannot expect great results in just one year.”

According to Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, “The Mathematics of Planet Earth (MPE) initiative resonates strongly with UNESCO’s work to promote the sciences and science education, especially through our International Basic Sciences Programme. Mathematics advances fundamental research and plays an important role in our daily lives. More than ever we need to develop relevant learning materials and to spark in every student, especially girls, a sense of joy in the wondrous universe of mathematics and the immense potential unleashed by this discipline. In this spirit, we commend this initiative and fully endorse the proposal to continue this programme beyond 2013.”

More information is available on the MPE website and in the full press release.

New Doctoral Training Centre in the Mathematics of Planet Earth

Imperial College and the University of Reading have joined forces to create the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in the Mathematics of Planet Earth (MPE). The MPE CDT will give PhD students the opportunity to undertake an MRes (Masters by Research) course in the first year, followed by a 3 year PhD project. Students will receive training in the mathematical and computational techniques needed to understand, predict and quantify risk and uncertainty for extreme weather and climate change.

Further information is available at the MPE CDT website.

CliMathNet climate scientists and mathematicians contribute to IPCC report

Many UK climate scientists and mathematicians, including CliMathNet members, were involved in creating the world’s most comprehensive report on climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1 (WG 1) 5^th Assessment Report (AR5), which published its Summary for Policymakers on Friday 27th September, is the six yearly update on the state of the Earth’s climate, covering the physical science basis of climate change. It is considered the main source of information for governments and industry and is a crucially important means for climate scientists and mathematicians to inform policy.

Prof Peter Cox (lead author on the chapter on Evaluation of Climate Models and a member of the CliMathNet steering committee) said

“This latest IPCC report surpasses even the previous four in terms of its breadth and rigour. It confirms that the climate is changing, that carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the dominant reason for this, and that we are running out of time to avoid the 2 degrees of global warming that is the stated aim of international climate negotiations.

However, the report also shows that the climate system still has the ability to surprise us in many ways. The rate of global warming appears to have slowed recently, but other changes in the climate system such as the melting of sea-ice and the Greenland and Antarctic ice-sheets are occurring even faster than expected, and the financial losses due to weather and climate extremes struck an all-time high in 2012.

The challenge for climate science is to understand the links between the many observed changes in the climate system. The challenge for humanity is to act on the robust findings of the IPCC and get serious about reducing carbon dioxide emissions."

More information is available on the IPCC website: http://www.ipcc.ch/

Mathematics for Planet Earth 2013+

MPE 2013+ is designed to contine the work intiated by MPE 2013, through further engagement of the mathematical scoences community in addressing the challenges facing the planet, and in particular to:

Encourage research to identify and address fundamental questions about our planet to which mathematical sciences can contribute to a solution, including understanding earth’s climate and environment and addressing its sustainability.
Encourage science and mathematics teachers at all levels to communicate issues related to Planet Earth through their instruction and curriculum development.
Encourage students and early-career researchers in mathematical disciplines to pursue research areas related to understanding and sustaining the earth and its systems.
Inform the public about the essential role of the mathematical sciences in confronting challenges facing the planet.

MPE 2013+ will organize the project around the following five research workshops deliberately given very broad themes that will become more and more focused as research and education forums get to work and meet to address smaller, more specific topics. The workshop themes are:

Management of Natural Resources(including water, forests, and food supplies)
Sustainable Human Environments(including smarter cities, “biomes”, and security)
Natural Disasters(monitoring, responding to, and mitigating their effects)
Data-aware Energy Use(including alternative energy investment portfolios, smart grid, smart buildings, electric vehicles)
Global Change (including observation, metrics, and mitigating and adapting to the effects of change)

Further information is available on the MPE 2013 website.

Special November Issue of College Mathematics Journal

The College Mathematics Journal and Mathematics of Planet Earth initiative have teamed up to create a special issue for November, an extra large issue discussing a wide range of earth science and environmental questions.

The special November issue is available free of charge at this website: www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/college-mathematics-journal/college-mathematics-journal-contents-november-2013

The issue begins with a guest editorial by Mary Lou Zeeman relating mathematics to sustainability and concludes with a review by Ben Fusaro of the recent book Mathematics for the Environment by Martin Walter.

The College Mathematics Journal is designed to enhance classroom learning and stimulate thinking regarding undergraduate mathematics.