Hear from global climate experts at new reading group
27 September 2023
Climate researchers and enthusiasts at Reading can hear from experts from around the world at a new regular online meeting established by the Walker Institute.
The My Climate Risk Interdisciplinary Reading Group is open to any member of staff or student, at Reading or other institutions, with an interest in climate research or policy or environmental action.
The sessions will feature an invited expert in climate, economics, health, psychology and other disciplines discussing influential climate risk publications and exploring the profound impacts of climate change on society, ecosystems and our planet’s future.
The My Climate Risk Interdisciplinary Reading Group has been organised as a World Climate Research Programme Lighthouse Activity, which are designed to cross disciplines, foster collaboration and advance knowledge to address the impacts of climate change.
How to join
The meetings will take place via Zoom call on the second Monday of each month from 13:00-14:00, starting on 9 October.
Those interested in joining should register for each session, which will allow them to download a copy of the research paper due to be discussed.
About the sessions
October’s session will be presented by Professor Coleen Vogel, an expert in climatology and the social dimensions of climate change from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She will discuss the research paper Do not call me Resilient again.
Professor Vogel has twice been an IPCC author and is currently a lead author of the IPBES transformative change assessment.
She has chaired and been the vice chair of international global environmental change scientific committees, such as the International Human Dimensions Programme, and has been involved in the Earth System Science Programme.
She was also one of the lead contributors to the preparation of the Disaster Management Act in South Africa, and was awarded a Burtoni Award for international excellence in adaptation research.
Other experts lined up to present sessions include Dr Neil McCulloch, an economist specialising in the political economy of fossil fuel subsidy reform; Dr Richard Selby, a researcher in vector transmitted diseases and tropical diseases; Olga Buto, a former lead climate expert with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization; and Julia Mindlin, a PhD candidate at the University of Buenos Aires researching great scale climate patterns and their impact on South America.