Professor Sir Brian John Hoskins CBE FRS, (born 17 May 1945) is a British dynamical meteorologist and climatologist based at the Imperial College London. A mathematician by training, his research has focused on understanding atmospheric motion from the scale of fronts to that of the Earth, using a range of theoretical and numerical models. He is perhaps best known for his work on the mathematical theory of extratropical cyclones and frontogenesis,[1] particularly through the use of potential vorticity.[2] He has also produced research across many areas of meteorology, including the Indian monsoon and global warming, recently contributing to the Stern review and the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.
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Sir Brian has been an effective ambassador for its use in government, industry and society. He has contributed to developing environmental science in the UK and internationally. His group at the University of Reading has expanded to become one of the largest Meteorology departments in the world. Over the last four years Sir Brian has been instrumental in establishing the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, as a important centre for climate change research. He has been Council member for the Natural Environment Research Council[3] that funds and supports most of the environmental research in the UK, and has held numerous roles for the Met Office,[4] most recently as non-executive director and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board.
He has made major contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change[5] scientific assessments and shared in it being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007,[6] and contributed to the Stern review of the economics of climate change. He was also a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution which recommended that the UK should aim for a 60% reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050. More recently he was appointed to the Government's new Climate Change Committee,[7] which has been highly influential in the Government's decision to commit to an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.[8]