Pioneering weather and climate modeller, Professor Tim Palmer from the Department of Physics at Oxford, has been elected Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy. Members are elected by their peers for their exceptional contributions to the sciences, humanities and social sciences as well as to public service; honorary membership is reserved for those who have made a major international contribution to their disciplines but who are not normally resident in Ireland.
Professor Palmer, Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics, has been elected in recognition of his pioneering work in the now standard use of probabilistic ensemble techniques in weather and climate modelling.
‘This honour means a lot to me,’ comments Professor Palmer. ‘Not only was Ireland my mother’s country of birth, Ireland was home to many of our greatest physicists and mathematicians including John Tyndall, George Stokes, William Rowan Hamilton and, for a while, Erwin Schrödinger.’
Members assist the Academy in its work by providing expert advice for its Council and committees, by representing the Academy nationally and internationally and by promoting the Academy’s strategic mission.
‘Our warmest congratulations to Tim,’ comments Professor Ian Shipsey, Head of the Department of Physics at Oxford. ‘He is a remarkable physicist of extraordinary breadth; he expertly blends both theoretical and practical insights. His climate prediction work plays an essential role in informing global policy on climate change. It is wonderful to have him as a member of faculty here at Oxford.’