Julia Slingo | |
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 Julia Slingo at theRoyal Society admissions day in London, July 2015 | |
| Born | Julia Mary Walker (1950-12-13)13 December 1950 (age 75) Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, UK |
| Alma mater | University of Bristol (BSc, PhD) |
| Spouse | [3] |
| Children | Two daughters[3] |
| Awards | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Published work (1988) |
| Website | met |
Julia Mary SlingoDBE, FRS, HonFInstP[1] (néeWalker; born 13 December 1950) is a Britishmeteorologist andclimate scientist. She was Chief Scientist at theMet Office from 2009[4] until 2016, becoming the first woman to hold the post.[5] She is also a visiting professor in the Department of Meteorology at theUniversity of Reading, where she held, prior to appointment to the Met Office, the positions of Director of Climate Research in theNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)National Centre for Atmospheric Science and founding director of the Walker Institute for Climate System Research.[3][6][7][8][9][10][11]
From 2015 to 2016 she was one of the members of the High Level Group of Scientific Advisers of theEuropean Commission Scientific Advice Mechanism, part of itsDirectorate-General for Research and Innovation.[12][13]
Julia Mary Walker was born on 13 December 1950 inKenilworth, Warwickshire.[3] She was educated at theKing's High School for Girls, an all-girlsprivate school inWarwick.[14] She studiedphysics at theUniversity of Bristol and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973.
In 1988, she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at the same university.[15][16]
Following her degree she joined theMet Office, where she became a Senior Scientist in the dynamical meteorology section. Her research focussed on clouds and their interactions with the rest of the atmosphere, and she pioneered new ways to represent clouds in weather forecast and climate models.[6][14] In 1985 she left the Met Office and, after a year at theEuropean Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)[2] in Reading, UK, Dame Julia moved in 1986 to theNational Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in the USA. While at NCAR she was awarded in 1989 a PhD in atmospheric physics from the University of Bristol, for a thesis completed through a series of published papers.[14]
In 1990, Slingo returned to the UK, to join the Department of Meteorology at theUniversity of Reading, where she founded a group researching into tropical climate. She became an established researcher in tropical climate variability and cumulus convection, its influence on the global climate, and its role in seasonal and decadal climate prediction, and led the development of a new generation of high resolution climate models.[14] She developed a particular interest in the monsoons of India and China, working closely with scientists in both countries. More recently, she has also been investigating the impacts of changes on water resources and crop production, and the need to better represent the hydrological cycle in climate models.[14] While at Reading Dame Julia became the first female Professor of Meteorology in the UK, and was appointed to the leading role in the UK climate science community of Director of Climate Research inNERC'sNational Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). In 2006 she founded the Walker Institute for Climate System Research at Reading,[7] aimed at addressing the cross disciplinary challenges of climate change and its impacts.
As Chief Scientist at theMet Office, Slingo was responsible for providing scientific and technical strategy, ensuring that the organisation adheres to good scientific and technical standards, and for directing and managing research and development within the Met Office. She also represents the Office on science and technology across government.[7]
In March 2012, Slingo said that a reduction in Arctic sea ice caused by climate change was possibly linked to colder and drier winter weather in the UK.[17] In February 2014, she said that climate change is likely to be a factor in thestorms and floods Britain had been experiencing for several months.[18][19][20]
Her research has been funded by theNatural Environment Research Council (NERC).[21]
Slingo was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008 for services to environmental and climate science.[22] She was promoted toDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the2014 New Year Honours for services to weather and climate science.[23]
Slingo was awarded the Buchan Prize of theRoyal Meteorological Society in 1998.[24] She was awarded honorary degrees ofdoctor of science by theUniversity of Bristol in 2010,[16] and theUniversity of Reading in 2011.[25] In 2022 she was honoured again by Bristol University, winning their Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement.[26]
In 2014, Slingo was named one of the 100 leading UK practising scientists by theScience Council.[27] She was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015.[1] The same year she was awarded theInternational Meteorological Organization Prize from theWorld Meteorological Organization.[28] Slingo was elected a member of the USNational Academy of Engineering in 2016 "For contributions to modelling of the Earth's climate system and for leadership in the weather and climate community".[29]
Slingo was the first female Professor of Meteorology in the UK. In 2008, she became the first woman President of theRoyal Meteorological Society.[4] She was interviewed onThe Life Scientific byJim Al-Khalili in 2014.[6]
She was awarded theCarl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal by theAmerican Meteorological Society in 2020.[30]
Slingo married Anthony Slingo in 1978.[3] He was an environmental scientist who died in 2008.[31] They had two daughters.[6][31] She lives inSidmouth in Devon.[32]
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