Accolades: Prof Pieter Vermeesch and Climate Action Unit nomination.

Prof Pieter Vermeesch been selected by the IAMG Awards Committee as the recipient of the 2023 Felix Chayes Prize of the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences. The Climate Action Unit has become a finalist in two categories for the 2023 UK Green Business Awards.

Prof Pieter Vermeesch been selected by the IAMG Awards Committee as the recipient of the 2023 Felix Chayes Prize of the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. The Felix Chayes Prize for Excellence in Research in Mathematical Petrology is a cash prize endowed in honour of Felix Chayes and is awarded to recipients of exceptional potential and proven research ability. The prize is given for outstanding contributions to statistical petrology or related applications of mathematics or informatics.  Pieter will be a keynote speaker at the next IAMG conference presenting the talk about “Geochronology as a compositional data problem”. 

Pieter is a Professor in Geochronology and the director of the London Geochronology Centre (LGC). His research interests include geochronology, thermochronometry, aeolian geomorphology and sedimentary provenance analysis, using the U-Pb, Ar-Ar, fission track, U-Th-He and cosmogenic nuclide methods. As a firm believer in free and open research software, he has developed a number of widely used computer programs (such as IsoplotR, provenance and RadialPlotter) to process and interpret geochronological data.

 

The Climate Action Unit has become a finalist in two categories for the 2023 UK Green Business Awards: ‘Consultancy of the year’ and ‘Behavioural change campaign of the year’. The Unit aims to build capacity in external organisations so that they can deliver climate action. Achieved through a unique methodology and utilising insights from psychology, these practices are specifically targeted at long-term systemic change.  
 
The Climate Action Unit has been working on a diverse range of projects since launching at UCL in July 2021. These include the creation of new climate change metrics, the delivery of a multi-year programme supporting councils to deliver local climate action, and work shaping the way the financial sector and political leaders think about climate risk.  The Unit’s work has now been recognised, as it has been announced as a finalist in two categories of this year’s BusinessGreen Awards. The shortlistings showcase the team’s innovative consultancy-style way of working with organisations outside of academia, as well as shining a spotlight on one individual project called The Strategy Room.  
 
The Strategy Room, currently in its pilot phase, provides an immersive experience where local people get to debate and vote on net-zero policy initiatives in their area. The experience draws on creative storytelling and engages participants by asking them to imagine alternative futures which could exist in a low carbon society.

Links

• The 2023 Felix Chayes Prize of the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences

• Prof Pieter Vermeesch's academic profile

• UCL Climate Action Unit

• Climate Action Unit shortlisted for two Green Business awards

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