Community News Archive
Climate change scientist wins major physics prize
Institute of Physics
21 January 2005
A scientist whose work is helping to predict how the Earth’s climate will change in the future, was among the winners of Britain’s most prestigious prizes in physics awarded on Thursday 20th January by the Institute of Physics.
The Institute of Physics Awards 2005 were presented at a special dinner at the Savoy Hotel in London on Thursday 20th January. The annual Awards honour Britain’s top physicists and groundbreaking research in a variety of fields.
Barbara Maher, Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Lancaster, was presented with the Chree Medal & Prize for her pioneering work using the magnetism in rocks and soil to understand how changes in the Earth’s climate have been caused by humans and by natural events in the past. This work is now helping researchers predict exactly how the Earth’s climate might change in the future.
Other award winners included John Ellis for his work on the Higgs boson and the top quark, William Vinen for the first direct confirmation of the application of quantum mechanics to a macroscopic body (superfluid helium) and Geoff Hall for work which has enabled the precise detection and measurement of charged particles produced at the Large Hadron Collider.
Three new Honorary Fellowships were awarded at the Dinner; to Mildred Dresselhaus from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Masao Doi from the School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Japan, and the Institute’s Honorary Treasurer Tony Scott from University College Dublin, in recognition of his unparalleled contribution to physics education and the public appreciation of physics in Ireland through the Young Scientist competition and exhibition.
Barbara Maher, a professor in the Centre for Environmental Magnetism and Paleomagnetism at the University of Lancaster, was the first person to link the magnetic properties of rock and soil with changes in climate and the environment. Understanding this relationship allowed Maher to reconstruct the Earth’s climate over geological time-scales; identifying changes induced by humans as well as natural variations in climate.
As fears grow over global warming, modelling and predicting climate change has become more important than ever. Maher’s work has provided researchers with accurate knowledge of what the Earth’s climate was like in the past – long sets of time-series data against which they can test their models, and attempt to improve them.
Dr. Paul Danielsen, Director of Communications at the Institute of Physics, said: “The Institute’s awards recognise outstanding achievements by physicists in their respective fields. Previous winners constitute a roll-call of those who have shaped physics in the 20th century. This year’s winners demonstrate that UK physicists continue to make remarkable contributions into the 21st century.”
The Institute of Physics Awards 2005
DIRAC MEDAL & PRIZE. John Ellis, CERN. For his highly influential work on particle-physics phenomenology; in particular on the properties of gluons, the Higgs boson and the top quark.
GUTHRIE MEDAL & PRIZE. William Frank Vinen, the University of Birmingham. For his outstanding contributions to superfluids and superconductors; in particular for the observation and measurement of quantized vortices in superfluid helium, the first
direct confirmation of the application of quantum mechanics to a macroscopic body.
GLAZEBROOK MEDAL & PRIZE. Peter Williams, the Engineering and Technology Board. For his outstanding contributions to physics-based industry through his leadership of world-class companies such as Oxford Instruments and through his work with government, the research councils and professional bodies.
BRAGG MEDAL & PRIZE. Ken Dobson, retired. For his important contributions to physics education in assessment and in the development of original curriculum material.
CHREE MEDAL & PRIZE. Barbara A Maher, Lancaster University. For her pioneering contributions to the study of magnetic signals from the geological record as a means of determining climatic changes.
DUDDELL MEDAL & PRIZE. Geoff Hall, Imperial College London; Alessandro Marchioro, CERN; Peter Sharp, RAL/CERN. For their development of “radiation hard” analogue electronics for silicon detectors, enabling their use as a means of precision detection and measurement of charged particle production at the Large Hadron Collider.
KELVIN MEDAL & PRIZE. Heather Reid, BBC Scotland. For the promotion of physics to schoolchildren and the public through public lectures, workshops and the media.
MOTT MEDAL & PRIZE. Athene Margaret Donald, University of Cambridge. For the development of powerful new methods for the study of the properties of
soft condensed matter; in particular colloids, polymers and biological materials.
YOUNG MEDAL & PRIZE. Philip St-John Russell, University of Bath. For his proposal of the concept of photonic crystal fibres and his outstanding contribution to their development and practical application.
MAXWELL MEDAL & PRIZE. Clifford Victor Johnson, University of Southern California. For his outstanding contribution to string theory, quantum gravity and its interface with strongly coupled field theory; In particular for his work on understanding the censorship of singularities, and the thermodynamic properties of quantum spacetime.
BOYS MEDAL & PRIZE. Nigel Hussey, University of Bristol. For his important contributions to the understanding of high temperature superconductors; in particular for making the first observation of the full Fermi surface in a high temperature superconductor.
PATERSON MEDAL & PRIZE. Jonathan Mark Huntley, Loughborough University. For the development of novel methods of laser speckle interferometry, phase
unwrapping algorithms and the use of positron emission in a wide variety of applications.