David Glyn Vaughan

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(23 October 1962 – 9 February 2023) was a

climate scientist Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stu ...

at the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

. His research focus is the role of ice sheets in the Earth system and the societal threat of climate change and rising sea levels. He is a co-ordinating Lead Author of the IPCC

Fourth Assessment Report ''Climate Change 2007'', the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published in 2007 and is the fourth in a series of reports intended to assess scientific, technical and soci ...

. His research work includes the mapping of the bed under Pine Island Glacier and the discovery of a subglacial volcano. Between March 2009 and November 2013 Vaughan led the EU

Ice2sea Ice2sea was a program of scientific research funded by the European Union'to study the effects of climate change on glaciation and the melting of ice caps and glaciers on sea level. The ice2sea project, a collaborative of 24 research institutions, ...

project, which focussed on sea-level rise arising from ice-sheet and glacier melt. Vaughan graduated from

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

with a degree in Natural Sciences in 1984. He then earned a MSc in Geophysics from

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

(

Hatfield College , motto_English = Either the first or with the first , scarf = , named_for = Thomas Hatfield , established = , senior_tutor = , master = Ann MacLarnon (2017–) , undergraduates = 1010 (2017/18) , postgradu ...

) in 1985, after which he joined the British Antarctic Survey, taking part in multiple field campaigns over the following years. He gained his PhD from the Open University in 1995. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to glaciology. He died of stomach cancer on 9 February 2023, at the age of 60.

References

External links

British Antarctic Survey Staff Directory and Profiles
1962 births 2023 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer British climatologists Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge {{climate-bio-stub