Professor Gideon Henderson, Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Earth Sciences at Univ, has been appointed as the new Chief Scientific Adviser of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The Chief Scientific Adviser sits on Defra’s Board and is responsible for overseeing the quality of evidence that the department relies on for policy decisions. The CSA also provide Ministers with scientific advice and sets the priorities for scientific research, gathering evidence to support these aims.

Professor Henderson has been Professor of Earth Sciences at the University since 2006 and Senior Research Fellow at Univ since 2012. He was previously an Earth Sciences Tutorial Fellow at Univ and now supervises a number of DPhil students in a research group focused on palaeoclimate and ocean chemistry as well as running the “Carbon Cycle” and “Climate” courses.

He commented:

“I am thrilled to be joining Defra at a time when the environment is such a strong priority and there is an ever-growing public level of environmental awareness.

“The UK faces many challenges – among them responding to climate change and helping meet a net zero emissions goal, as well as ensuring our food’s security and realising the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan.

“I look forward to working closely with colleagues to help achieve these ambitions with the support of the UK’s excellent scientific research.”

Published: 24 July 2019

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