James Ferguson Skea

CBE 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 ...

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(born 1 September 1953), also known as Jim Skea, is a Scottish academic, Professor of Sustainable Energy at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

's Centre for Environmental Policy, and a member of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the British government's

Committee on Climate Change The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent non-departmental public body, formed under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved Governments and Parliament ...

. He was a co-author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) October 8, 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C.

Early life and education

The son of Colin Hill Skea and Margaret Ferguson Skea, he was educated at the

Grove Academy Grove Academy is an 11–18 mixed secondary school in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland. History Grove Academy was established in 1889. In 2007, construction began on completely new buildings on the site of the Extension Buildings and huts. T ...

Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach Tatha''; Scots: ''Brochtie'') is a suburb of Dundee, Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until 191 ...

, then at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where he graduated

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Mathematical Physics with first class Honours, and finally at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

, where he gained his PhD in Physics at Cavendish Laboratory in 1979.'Skea, Prof. James Ferguson (born 1 Sept. 1953)' in '' Who's Who 2015'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2015)

Career

In 1978 Skea became a research assistant in the Cavendish Laboratory, where he remained until 1981, then went to

Carnegie-Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, as a research associate, 1981–1983, a research fellow, 1983–1994, and a professorial fellow, 1994–1998 (Science Policy Research Unit). He was director of the Global Environmental Change Programme of the Economic and Social Research Council from 1995 to 1998, then was at the Policy Studies Institute from 1998 to 2004, and at the UK Energy Research Centre, 2004–2012. He has held an appointment as Professor of Sustainable Energy at the Centre for Environmental Policy in London since 2009, and since 2012 has been a fellow of the

Research Councils UK Research Councils UK, sometimes known as RCUK, was a non-departmental public body which coordinated science policy in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2018. It was an umbrella organisation that coordinated the seven separate research councils t ...

Energy Programme,

.J. Skea
at imperial.ac.uk/people, accessed 19 April 2015 Skea has also served as a non-executive director of Blackrock New Energy Investment Trust Plc since 2009 and has been a member of the

and of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 2008. He is also vice-president of the

Energy Institute The Energy Institute (EI) is a professional organization for engineers and other professionals in energy-related fields. The EI was formed in 2003 by the merger of the Institute of Petroleum (dating back to 1913) and the Institute of Energy (d ...

and sits on the advisory board of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie-Mellon University. He was a co-author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) October 8, 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C.

Private life

In 1976, Skea married Jane Howley, and they had one son and one daughter. His marriage ended in divorce in 2001 and he is now the partner of Hilary Ann Ougham and lives in Brighton. In '' Who's Who'' he states his recreations as "walking the South Downs, mountain biking, losing keys".

Honours

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the Royal Society of Arts, 2000 *Officer 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 ...

, 2004 *Fellow of the

, 2005 *Certificate of Commendation, Japan, 2009, for work as co-chair of Japan-UK Joint Research Project "Roadmap to a Low-Carbon World" *Honorary Fellow of the Society of Engineers, 2011 * Melchett Award of the

, 2010Skea wins Melchett Award
dated 17 September 2010 at imperial.ac.uk, accessed 19 April 2015 *Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 2013

Selected publications

*''Acid Politics'', 1991 *''Standards, Innovation, Competitiveness and Policy'', 1995 *''Clean and Competitive'', 1997 *''Pollution for Sale'', 1998 *''Energy 2050'', 2011

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skea, James Ferguson 1953 births Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Grove Academy Living people