David S. Reay is a

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

scientist, author, and professor of carbon management and education at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

.Dave Reay's He serves as co-chair of the Just Transition Commission, and served as executive director of the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute and policy director of ClimateXChange between January 2020 and January 2024.

Education

Reay was educated at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

where he was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1999 for research on the utilisation of

inorganic An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemistry''. Inor ...

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

by bacteria and

microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic scale, microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine life, marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellul ...

Research and career

Reay's research focuses on

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

fluxes and

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

, including national and international research projects such as CarboEurope and NitroEurope, and research council-funded work through the UK's

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British Research Councils UK, research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several envir ...

(NERC). Reay's key peer reviewed publications include novel work on global

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

sinks, the soil

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

sink, and

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

emissions from aquatic systems. His work on nitrous oxide featured in the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...

(IPCC) Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports. In addition to his contributions to the understanding of greenhouse gas fluxes, Reay has written widely on climate change policy and society, particularly on individual and community action. He now advises the Scottish and

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

s on climate action, especially around climate change skills and green jobs

Climate change

Reay has authored several books on

, including the popular science books ''Climate-smart Food'', ''Nitrogen and Climate Change'', ''Climate Change Begins at Home'' published in 2005 by Macmillan and shortlisted for the Times Higher Young Academic Author of the Year Award, and ''Your Planet Needs You!'' published in 2009 by Macmillan Children's Books. He is also lead editor of ''Greenhouse Gas Sinks'' published in 2007 by CABI and creator and editor of the climate change science website Greenhouse Gas Online.

Service and leadership

Reay chaired the Scottish Government's Climate Emergency Skills Implementation Group and the UK Climate Change Committee's Expert Advisory Panel on Workforce & Skills. He was also a member of the UK Government's Green Jobs Taskforce and was the creator of the award-winning

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(MSc) course in carbon management at the University of Edinburgh. He is very active in climate change knowledge exchange, both nationally and internationally, being a regular media commentator on climate change issues, advising on and appearing in the BBC's ''Can We Save Planet Earth''

Are We Changing Planet Earth? ''Are We Changing Planet Earth?'' and ''Can We Save Planet Earth?'' are two programmes that form a documentary about global warming, presented by David Attenborough. They were first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 24 May and 1 June 2006 respe ...

film with

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

, and frequently providing expert evidence on climate change to select committees in the Westminster and Holyrood Parliaments. Knowledge exchange information, University of Edinburgh. His former doctoral students include

Hannah Ritchie Hannah Ritchie (born 1993 in Falkirk) is a Scottish data scientist, senior researcher at the University of Oxford in the Oxford Martin School, and deputy editor at ''Our World in Data''. Her work focuses on sustainability, in relation to clima ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reay, David Climate change in Scotland Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society Alumni of the University of Essex