Rick Battarbee, FRS
Emeritus Professor of Environmental Change
Key achievements: Pioneering palaeolimnology research; leadership of HOLIVAR, Euro-LIMPACS, and other freshwater projects; contributions to lake sediment analysis, ecosystem restoration, and conservation; international recognition including FRS, Victoria Medal, and Lifetime Achievement Award.
Emeritus Professor of Environmental Change at UCL, specialising in palaeolimnology, climate variability, and environmental monitoring.
Biography
Professor Battarbee’s research uses lake sediments to study past environmental change and the impacts of humans on freshwater ecosystems over a range of spatial and temporal scales. He specialises in palaeolimnology and the use of diatoms and other biological indicators to reconstruct past climate variability, acidification, and ecosystem dynamics, with a focus on lakes across Europe, the Arctic, and high-altitude regions.
- BA (Hons): University College London, 1965-1968
- D. Phil: The New University of Ulster, 1968-1971
- D.Sc: The University of London, 1997
- Royal Society European Research Fellow Institute of Quaternary Geology Uppsala University, Sweden, 1971-1973
- Research Fellow in Environmental Science School of Biol. and Environ. Studies The New University of Ulster, 1973-1976
- Lecturer in Geography, UCL, 1976-1986 Reader in Geography, UCL, 1986-1991
- Professor of Environmental Change and Director of the Environmental Change Research Centre, UCL, 1991 – 2007
- Emeritus Professor of Environmental Change, UCL, 2007-Present
- Visiting Docent, Karelian Research Institute, Joensuu, Finland, 1978
- Visiting Research Associate, Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, USA, 1981-1982
- Royal Geographical Society Back Award for acid rain research, 1989
- Elected Foreign Member, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, 1991
- Rector's Guest and Research Medal of the University of Helsinki, 1994
- Medal of Moscow State University, 1995
- Honorary Professor, Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 2002
- Recognised as a “Pioneer of the Nation” by Queen Elizabeth II, 2003
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 2006
- Honorary DSc, University of Ulster, 2007
- Ruth Patrick Award, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, 2009
- Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, 2010
- Honorary Fellow, University College London, 2011
- Einstein Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2012
- James Croll Medal, Quaternary Research Association, 2013
- Lifetime Achievement Award, International Paleolimnology Association, 2015
- Honorary DSc, Queens University at Kingston, Canada, 2015
- Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018
- Associate Editor, Journal of Paleolimnology
- Editorial Board, Fennia
- Member, Advisory Board, Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences
- IGBP-PAGES Project leader for LIMPACS
- Chairman, ESF Programme " HOLIVAR "
- Member IGBP-PAGES Scientific Steering Committee
- Member IGBP-PAGES Executive Committee
- Member UK IGBP Committee
- Chairman, International Paleolimnology Association 2006-2012
- Member, Royal Society Climate Change Advisory Group 2006-2009
- Member, UK Government, Defra, RoTAP 2008
- Member, Royal Society Global Environment Research Committee 2010-2015
- Member, FBA Council (Royal Society Representative) 2011-2017
- Editor-in-Chief, Biology Letters, 2014 -2018
Publications
Explore Professor Battarbee's full list of research outputs via UCL Profiles.
View publicationsPhD Supervision
Professor Battarbee has supervised numerous PhD students on topics spanning palaeolimnology, climate change, and freshwater ecosystem dynamics. Projects have included studies of diatoms, zooplankton, and biogenic silica isotopes to reconstruct past environmental conditions in lakes across Europe, the Arctic, Tibet, and other regions. His supervision often integrates fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and environmental monitoring to link historical data with contemporary ecosystem management.
- Gina Clarke (UCL, 1999–2002, with Viv Jones) – Planktonic diatoms and climate change
- Giri Kattel (ORS, 2000–2003, with Anson Mackay) – Cladocera and climate change in mountain lakes
- Andy Henderson (UCL, 2000–2003, with Jonathan Holmes) – Holocene climate variability, Qinghai-Hu, NW Tibet
- Tom Davidson (NERC, 2001–2004, with Carl Sayer and Helen Bennion) – Zooplankton in shallow lakes
- Jonathan Tyler (NERC, 2003–2006, with Viv Jones) – Benthic diatoms and biogenic silica isotopes, Lochnagar
- Hong Yang (Dorothy Hodgkin, 2005–2008, with Roger Flower and Julian Thompson)
- Dong Xuhui (DfES/CSC, 2006–2009, with Carl Sayer and Helen Bennion)
Grants and Funding
Professor Battarbee has led and contributed to numerous funded research projects investigating freshwater ecosystems, climate variability, and environmental change. His work has been supported by major UK, European, and international funding bodies, including NERC, the EU, the Royal Society, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, covering topics from palaeolimnology and ecosystem restoration to isotope analysis and mountain lake studies.
- Global change impacts on European freshwater ecosystems – Euro-LIMPACS
Funding: EU FP6 | Duration: Feb 2004 – Jan 2009 - Palaeolimnology and shallow lake ecosystem restoration
Funding: Royal Society/Chinese Academy of Sciences Joint Project | Apr 2004 – Mar 2007 - Bloomsbury Environmental Isotope Facility
Funding: SRIF-UCL | May 2001 – 2003 - Climate variability and surface water acidification in North-west Scotland
Funding: NERC | Apr 2001 – Mar 2003 - Holocene climate variability (HOLIVAR)
Funding: ESF | Jan 2001 – Dec 2005 - Biogenic silica oxygen isotope fractionation in Lochnagar
Funding: NERC (NIGL) | Jul 2000 – Mar 2002 - Academic Links with China Scheme (ALCS)
Funding: British Council | Jun 1999 – May 2002 - EMERGE: European mountain lake ecosystems – regionalisation diagnostics & socio-economic evaluation
Funding: EU FP5 | Feb 2000 – Jan 2003 - A comparison of biogenic silica oxygen isotope, pollen and diatom records for an Eemian crater-lake sediment sequence
Funding: NERC | Jul 1999 – Jun 2000
Got questions? Get in touch.
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Emeritus Professor of Environmental Change
Click to email. r.battarbee@ucl.ac.uk Click to call. 020 7679 0582