Edward Hawkins (born 1977) is a Professor of

climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stu ...

at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, principal research scientist at the

National Centre for Atmospheric Science The National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) is research centre dedicated to the advancement of atmospheric science, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). NCAS is one of the NERC's six research centres, and was formed i ...

(NCAS), editor of ''Climate Lab Book'' blog and lead scientist for the Weather Rescue citizen science project. He is known for his data visualizations of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

for the general public such as

warming stripes Warming stripes (sometimes referred to as climate stripes, climate timelines or stripe graphics) are data visualization graphics that use a series of coloured stripes chronologically ordered to visually portray long-term temperature trends. Wa ...

and climate spirals.

Education

Hawkins was educated at the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

where he was awarded a PhD in astrophysics in 2003 for research supervised by Steve Maddox that investigated

galaxy cluster A galaxy cluster, or a cluster of galaxies, is a structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are bound together by gravity, with typical masses ranging from 1014 to 1015 solar masses. They are the second-lar ...

ing in large

redshift survey In astronomy, a redshift survey is a survey of a section of the sky to measure the redshift of astronomical objects: usually galaxies, but sometimes other objects such as galaxy clusters or quasars. Using Hubble's law, the redshift can be use ...

Career and research

After his PhD, Hawkins served as a

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several environmental (mainly geog ...

(NERC) advanced

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

in the department of

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

at the

from 2005 to 2013. Hawkins is a professor of

at the

, where he serves as academic lead for

public engagement Public engagement or public participation is a term that has recently been used to describe "the practice of involving members of the public in the agenda-setting, decision-making, and policy-forming activities of organizations/institutions respons ...

and is affiliated with the

(NCAS). He is a lead for Weather Rescue and Rainfall Rescue, citizen science projects in which volunteers transcribe data from historical meteorological and rainfall records for digital analysis. Hawkins was a contributing author for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (2014) and was a lead author for the

IPCC Sixth Assessment Report The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the sixth in a series of reports which assess scientific, technical, and socio-economic information concerning climate change. Three ...

in 2021. On 9 May 2016, Hawkins published his climate spiral data visualization graphic, which was widely reported as having gone viral. The climate spiral was widely praised,

Jason Samenow Jason Samenow is an American meteorologist and weather journalist. He is the weather editor for the ''Washington Post''. Early life and education Samenow is a native of Washington, D.C. area,

writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' that the spiral graph was "the most compelling global warming visualization ever made". On 22 May 2018, Hawkins published his

data visualization graphic, which has been used by meteorologists in

Climate Central Climate Central is a nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate science. Composed of scientists and science journalists, the organization conducts scientific research on climate change and energy issues, and produces multimed ...

's annual # MetsUnite campaign to raise public awareness of global warming during broadcasts on the summer solstice. Hawkins' similar #ShowYourStripes initiative, in which the public could freely download and share graphics customized to specific countries or localities, was launched on 17 June 2019. The warming stripes graphic is used in the logo of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis from 2019 onwards.

Honours and awards

Hawkins' climate spiral design was on the shortlist for the Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards 2016, the design having been featured in the opening ceremony of the August 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Hawkins was awarded the

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...

’s Climate Science Communication Prize in 2017. In 2018, Hawkins was awarded the Kavli Medal by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

"for significant contributions to understanding and quantifying natural climate variability and long-term climate change, and for actively communicating climate science and its various implications with broad audiences". In July 2019, Hawkins was included in the ''Climate Home News'' list of ten climate

influencers An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

. Hawkins was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours "For services to Climate Science and to Science Communication". In June 2021, Hawkins was named in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' "Green Power List" which profiled twenty environmentalists in the UK who are "minds engaging with the world’s biggest problem".

Selected publications

According to Google Scholar his most highly cited publications include: * ''The Potential to Narrow Uncertainty in Regional Climate Predictions'' *''The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: correlation functions, peculiar velocities and the matter density of the Universe'' * ''Decadal Prediction: Can It Be Skillful?'' * ''Global risk of deadly heat''

References

External links

EdHawkins.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Ed Climate communication Living people British climatologists Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change contributing authors Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors Non-fiction environmental writers People associated with the University of Reading Members of the Order of the British Empire Climate change artists 1977 births