John Alexander Church (born 1951) is an expert on
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
and its
changes
Changes may refer to:
Books
* ''Changes'', the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series
* ''Changes'', a novel by Danielle Steel
* ''Changes'', a trilogy of novels on which the BBC TV series was based, written by Peter Dickinson ...
. He was co-convening lead author (with
Jonathan M. Gregory) for the chapter on Sea Level in the
IPCC
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ...
Third Assessment Report. He was also a co-convening lead author for the
IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. He is a member of the Joint Scientific Committee of the
WCRP. He was a project leader at
CSIRO, until 2016. He is currently a professor with the University of New South Wales' Climate Change Research Centre.
Biography
Church graduated from the University of Queensland with a
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
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
in 1972. He obtained a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1979.
Church has led a number of programs, including:
CSIRO Division of Oceanography; Program Leader of the Oceanography Program of the
Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions; Project Leader, Southern Ocean Processes Project; CSIRO Division of Marine and atmospheric Research, Polar Waters Program, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre. On an international level, Church has been the Principal Investigator for the NASA/CNES
TOPEX/Poseidon
TOPEX/Poseidon was a joint satellite altimeter mission between NASA, the U.S. space agency; and CNES, the French space agency, to map ocean surface topography. Launched on August 10, 1992, it was the first major oceanographic research satellite. ...
Extended Satellite Mission.
Currently, Church is chair of the scientific committee of the
World Climate Research Programme
The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) is an international programme that helps to coordinate global climate research. The WCRP was established in 1980, under the joint sponsorship of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Inter ...
studying sea-level rise, and is leader of the Sea level Rise Project at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre. (2007)
Awards
* 2006
Roger Revelle Medal
The Roger Revelle Medal is given out annually by the American Geophysical Union to recognize "outstanding accomplishments or contributions toward the understanding of the Earth’s atmospheric processes, including its dynamics, chemistry, and r ...
by the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO. It first met in Paris at Unesco Headquarters from 19 to 27 October 1961. Initially, 40 States becam ...
* 2006 CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement
* 2007
Eureka Prize
The Eureka Prizes are awarded annually by the Australian Museum, Sydney, to recognise individuals and organizations who have contributed to science and the understanding of science in Australia. They were founded in 1990 following a suggestion ...
for Scientific Research
* 2008 Presented the
Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
The Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) is an independent learned society that supports and fosters interest in Meteorology, Oceanography and other related sciences. AMOS was founded in April 1987 as a successor to the Aust ...
R.H. Clarke Lecture
* 2018
BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards () are an international award programme recognizing significant contributions in the areas of scientific research and cultural creation. The categories that make up the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ...
in the category of Climate Change jointly with
Anny Cazenave and
Jonathan M. Gregory for their outstanding contributions, the committee states, “to detecting, understanding and projecting the response of global and regional sea level to anthropogenic climate change.”
* 2022
James Cook Medal The James Cook Medal is awarded on an occasional basis by the Royal Society of New South Wales for "outstanding contributions to science and human welfare in and for the Southern Hemisphere". It was established in 1947 from funds donated by Henry F ...
Church is a Fellow of the
Australian Academy of Science
The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soc ...
, the
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...
, and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Physics. He was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Australia in the
2022 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to climate science through oceanographic and sea-level research and publications".
Publications
* Christopher Watson, Richard Coleman, Neil White, John Church and Ramesh Govind, 2003. Absolute Calibration of TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 using GPS Buoys in Bass Strait, Australia. Marine Geodesy (Special Issue on Jason-1 Calibration/Validation, Part 1), 26 (3-4), 285-304.
* McDougall, T. J., J. A. Church and D. R. Jackett, 2003: Does the nonlinearity of the equation of state impose an upper bound on the buoyancy frequency?
Journal of Marine Research
The ''Journal of Marine Research'' is an American journal, first published by Yale University in 1937, that covers peer-reviewed scientific articles and is still published today. The academic journal publishes articles
Article often refers to: ...
, 61, 745-764.
* Church, J.A. N.J. White, R. Coleman, K. Lambeck, and J.X. Mitrovica, 2004. Estimates of the regional distribution of sea-level rise over the 1950 to 2000 period.
Journal of Climate, 17 (13), 2609-2625.
* Christopher Watson, Richard Coleman, Neil White, John Church and Ramesh Govind, 2004. TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1: absolute calibration in Bass Strait, Australia. Marine Geodesy (Special Issue on Jason-1 Calibration/Validation, Part 1), 27 (1-2), 107-131.
* K.J.E. Walsh, H. Betts, J. Church, A.B. Pittock, K. L. McInnes, D.R. Jackett, T.J. McDougall, 2004 Using sea level rise projections for urban planning in Australia. Journal of Coastal Research, 20(2), 586-598.
* Yoshikawa, Yasushi, John A. Church, Hiroshi Uchida and Neil J. White, 2004. Near bottom currents and their relation to the transport in the Kuroshio Extension,
Geophysical Research Letters
''Geophysical Research Letters'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal of geoscience published by the American Geophysical Union that was established in 1974. The editor-in-chief is Harihar Rajaram.
Aims and scope
The journal aims for rap ...
, 31(16), L16309, .
* White, Neil J., John A. Church and Jonathan M. Gregory, 2005. Coastal and global averaged sea-level rise for 1950 to 2000. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(1), L01601, dio:10.1029/2004GL021391.
* Aoki, Shigeru, Nathaniel L. Bindoff and John A. Church, 2005. Interdecadal water mass changes in the Southern Ocean between 30ºE and 160ºE. Geophysical Research Letters, 32 (7), L07607, 7607-7607 Apr 14 2005
* Liu, Yun, Ming Feng, J ohn Church and Dongxiao Wang, 2005. Effect of salinity on estimating geostrophic transport of the Indonesian Throughflow along the IX1 XBT section. Journal of Oceanography, 61, 795-801.
* John A. Church, Neil J. White and Julie Arblaster, 2005. Significant decadal-scale impact of volcanic eruptions on sea level and ocean heat content. ''Nature'', 438, 74-77 .
* Church, J. A., and N. J. White (2006), A 20th century acceleration in global sea-level rise, Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L01602, .
* Domingues, Catia M., Susan E. Wijffels, Mathew E. Maltrud, John A. Church, Matthias Tomczak, 2006. The role of eddies in cooling the Leeuwin Current, Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L05603, .
* Mata, Mauricio M., Susan Wijffels, John A. Church, Matthias Tomczak, 2006. Statistical description of the East Australian Current low-frequency variability from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment PCM3 Current Meter Array. Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 57, 273-290.
* John A. Church, Neil J. White and John R. Hunter, 2006. Sea-level Rise at tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean islands. Global and Planetary Change, 53, 155-168.
* Mata, Mauricio M., Susan E. Wijffels, John A. Church, Matthias Tomczak, 2006. Eddy shedding and energy conversions in the East Australian Current. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111 (C9), C09034 .
* John Church, Neil White, John Hunter and Kathleen McInnes, 2006. Sea Change threatened by climate change. Australasian Science, November/December, 19-22.
* W. Cai, D. Bi, J. Church, T. Cowan, M. Dix, and L. Rotstayn, 2006. Pan-oceanic response to increasing anthropogenic aerosols: impacts on the Southern Hemisphere oceanic circulation. Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L21707, .
* John A. Church, John R. Hunter, Kathleen McInnes and Neil J. White, 2006. Sea-level rise around the Australian coastline and the changing frequency of extreme events. Australian Meteorological Magazine, 27 (Nov/Dec), 19-22.
* Church, J., Wilson, S., Woodworth, P. and Aarup, T. 2007. Understanding sea level rise and variability. Meeting report. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 88(4), 23 January 2007, 43.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, John A.
Australian oceanographers
Australian climatologists
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors
Living people
University of Queensland alumni
1951 births
Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science
Officers of the Order of Australia