Find a climate change expert

From unearthing the health implications of climate change to developing drought-tolerant crops, our experts are improving our understanding and developing ways to mitigate or adapt to climate change.

Contact us

David Diston
If you have any questions about the University of York's involvement please contact David Diston, our designated COP26 central contact.

david.diston@york.ac.uk

Name and department Areas of expertise Email

Dr Kathryn Arnold
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Vertebrate behaviour and physiology
  • Woodland ecology
  • Pharmaceuticals in the environment
  • Wildlife dispersal of antimicrobial resistance
kathryn.arnold@york.ac.uk 

Professor Ian Bancroft
Department of Biology

  • Genome evolution
  • Food security
  • Industrial biotechnology
 

Dr Colin Beale
Department of Biology

  • Savannah ecology
  • Conservation biology
  • Spatial ecology
  • Bayesian analysis
colin.beale@york.ac.uk 

Professor Neil Carter
Department of Politics and International Relations

  • Climate change policy
  • Environmental policy

Professor James Chong
Department of Biology

  • Microbes that produce methane (methanogens)
  • Processes associated with DNA replication
  • Anaerobic digestion and biogas

james.chong@york.ac.uk

 

Dr Aida Cuní Sanchez
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Tropical forest ecology
  • Carbon stocks
  • Forest conservation

Dr Bipasa Datta
Department of Economics 

  • Renewables
  • Energy
  • Climate economics

bipasa.datta@york.ac.uk

 

Professor Katherine Denby
Department of Biology

  • Plant biology
  • Food security
  • Agricultural biotechnology
  • Plant drought tolerance 

katherine.denby@york.ac.uk 

Dr Lynda Dunlop
Department of Education

  • Education and the environment

Professor Lisa Emberson
Department of Environment and Geography 
  • Ground-level ozone effects on vegetation
  • Global climate change in relation to vegetation
  • Impacts of air pollution to vegetation in developing countries
l.emberson@york.ac.uk

Dr Jonathan Ensor
Stockholm Environment Institute at York

  • Sustainable food
  • Urban landscapes
  • Adaptation and resilience
jon.ensor@york.ac.uk 

Professor Mark Freeman
School for Business and Society

  • Environmental cost-benefit analysis
  • Climate economics
management-pa-dean@york.ac.uk 

Dr Richard Friend
Department of Environment and Geography

 
  • International development
  • Natural resource governance
  • Water resources, fisheries and rural livelihoods
  • Urbanisation
  • Climate change, resilience and transformation
richard.friend@york.ac.uk 

Professor Roland Gehrels
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Sea-level change

roland.gehrels@york.ac.uk

 

Professor Hilary Graham
Department of Health Sciences

  • Social and health implications of climate change

Professor Ian A Graham
Department of Biology

  • Plant biology
  • Agricultural bioetchnology 
 

Dr Andrea Harper
Department of Biology

 
  • Plant biology
  • Food security 
  • Agricultural biotechnology
andrea.harper@york.ac.uk 

Dr Andreas Heinemeyer
Stockholm Environment Institute at York

  • Carbon cycling
  • Greenhouse gas emissions

andreas.heinemeyer@york.ac.uk

 

Dr Kevin Hicks
Stockholm Environment Institute at York

 
  • Air pollution impacts to terrestrial ecosystems, especially nitrogen
  • Linking science to policy for air pollution reduction
  • Regional air pollution in developing countries
  • Air pollution climate change co-benefits
  • Impacts and mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs)

kevin.hicks@york.ac.uk

 

Professor Jane Hill
Department of Biology

  • Habitat fragmentation
  • Tropical ecology
  • Butterflies
  • Ecological impacts of climate change
jane.hill@york.ac.uk 

Dr Eleanor Jew
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Biodiversity indicators
  • Climate smart agriculture
  • Land use change
eleanor.jew@york.ac.uk

Dr Joshua Kirshner
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Energy 
  • Urbanisation and health

 joshua.kirshner@york.ac.uk

Dr Johan Kuylenstierna
Stockholm Environment Institute at York

  • Regional assessments of air pollution impacts
  • Linking science to policy for air pollution reduction to ecosystems
  • Regional air pollution in developing countries
johan.kuylenstierna@york.ac.uk 

Professor James Lee
Department of Chemistry

  • Greenhouse gas emissions
  • Air pollution
  • Atmospheric chemistry
james.lee@york.ac.uk 

Professor Alastair Lewis
Department of Chemistry

  • Atmospheric science
  • Global air pollution
  • Chemical detection technologies
  • Transport and industrial emissions
ally.lewis@york.ac.uk 

Professor Luke Mackinder
Department of Biology

  • Carbon fixation in algae and cyanobacteria
  • Systems and synthetic biology 

Professor Robert Marchant
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Tropical ecology
  • Conservation
  • Ecosystem dynamics
robert.marchant@york.ac.uk  

Dr Andy Marshall
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Conservation ecology
  • Tropical forests (especially primates, trees and carbon)
  • Zoos
andy.marshall@york.ac.uk 

Dr Colin McClean
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Geographical information systems (GIS) - handling spatial data using computers
  • Applications of GIS to ecological research and environmental economic research
colin.mcclean@york.ac.uk 

Professor Simon McQueen-Mason
Department of Biology

  • Digestibility of plant biomass
  • Enzymes for plant biomass deconstruction
  • Lignocellulosic biorefining and biofuels
simon.mcqueenmason@york.ac.uk

Jessica Omukuti
Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre

  • Climate justice
  • Climate finance
  • Climate change governance and adaptation
jessica.omukuti@york.ac.uk  

Dr Karen Parkhill
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Energy supply and demand
  • Climate engineering
  • Geoengineering 

karen.parkhill@york.ac.uk

 

Dr Philip Platts
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Climate change ecology
  • GIS and spatial modelling
  • Biodiversity patterns and processes
  • Ecosystem service mapping
  • UK and Africa
philip.platts@york.ac.uk  

Dr Kelly Redeker
Department of Biology

  • Volatile metabolites (volabilomics)
  • Land use change effects on ecosystem function
  • Biological impacts of climate change
  • Stable isotopes
kelly.redeker@york.ac.uk 

Dr David Rippin
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Glaciology
david.rippin@york.ac.uk 

Dr Marco Sakai
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Economics of climate change
  • Sustainable food
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Energy
  • International trade
  • Carbon footprint

marco.sakai@york.ac.uk

 

Dr Carolyn Snell
School for Business and Society

  • Fuel Poverty
  • Energy Policy
  • Food Aid
  • Welfare Reform
  • Disabled people
  • Sustainable development
  • Environmental Policy
  • Public participation

carolyn.snell@york.ac.uk

Professor Lindsay Stringer
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Global environmental governance
  • Political ecology
  • Socio-ecological systems science

Dr Samarthia Thankappan
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Agri-food production
  • Policy and governance

samarthia.thankappan@york.ac.uk

 

Professor Chris Thomas
Department of Biology

  • Climate change impacts in ecology
  • Conservation
  • Butterfly ecology
  • Biodiversity
chris.thomas@york.ac.uk 

Dr Jessica Thorn
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Urban ecology
  • Social-ecological systems
  • Land use change
  • Ecosystem services
jessica.thorn@york.ac.uk 

Dr Sylvia Toet
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Climate change and contaminants
  • Greenhouse gas emissions

Dr Christopher West
Stockholm Environment Institute at York

  • Global food security
  • International supply chains
  • Carbon footprint
chris.west@york.ac.uk

Professor Piran White
Department of Environment and Geography

  • Ecosystems and human and wildlife health
  • Vulnerability and resilience in relation to environmental hazards
  • Ecosystems and climate risk
  • Mental health and environment
piran.white@york.ac.uk 

Contact us

David Diston
If you have any questions about the University of York's involvement please contact David Diston, our designated COP26 central contact.

david.diston@york.ac.uk