Ellie Highwood is a diversity and inclusion consultant and coach to academics, researchers and scientists. She was formerly Professor of Climate Physics at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

and was head of that department from 2012 until 2015. She was previously a member of the RMetS Council and Education Committee. On 1 October 2016 she became the 81st President of the

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes vari ...

(RMetS), serving until 2018. Highwood studied physics at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and then studied for a PhD at the

. Her research focuses on atmospheric particulates in climate, particularly the impact of aerosol on

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 ...

and

climate model Numerical climate models (or climate system models) are mathematical models that can simulate the interactions of important drivers of climate. These drivers are the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and ice. Scientists use climate models to st ...

simulations. From 2015 to 2019 she also took on the role of Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Reading, which was a job share with Professor Simon Chandler-Wilde. In 2019 she left the academic research world and started her own businesses focussing on developing inclusive organisations and supporting academics, researchers and scientists through individual and team coaching. Her work on aerosols and their impact on climate and climate change has been discussed in notable publications, such as ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. She has argued that cooling the planet artificially by "injecting tiny reflective particles into the atmosphere" (as proposed by

Paul Crutzen Paul Jozef Crutzen (; 3 December 1933 – 28 January 2021) was a Dutch meteorologist and atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric chemist. In 1995, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland, Frank Sherw ...

, for example) could "cause droughts and climate chaos" in poor countries, albeit also stating that it would "be prudent to explore alternatives that might help us in the decades ahead".

Selected bibliography

*Myhre, Gunnar, et al. "New estimates of radiative forcing due to well mixed greenhouse gases." Geophysical research letters 25.14 (1998): 2715–2718. *Highwood, E. J., and B. J. Hoskins. "The tropical tropopause." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 124.549 (1998): 1579–1604. *Tanré, D., et al. "Measurement and modeling of the Saharan dust radiative impact: Overview of the Saharan Dust Experiment (SHADE)." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (1984–2012) 108.D18 (2003). *Highwood, Eleanor J., et al. "Radiative properties and direct effect of Saharan dust measured by the C‐130 aircraft during Saharan Dust Experiment (SHADE): 2. Terrestrial spectrum." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (1984–2012) 108.D18 (2003). *Abel, Steven J., et al. "Evolution of biomass burning aerosol properties from an agricultural fire in southern Africa." Geophysical Research Letters 30.15 (2003).

References

External links

Interview for the Royal Meteorological Society
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British climatologists Women climatologists Presidents of the Royal Meteorological Society Senior Fellows of the Higher Education Academy Academics of the University of Reading {{UK-academic-bio-stub