27 April 2021
A 色狗导航 scientist has been by the European Geosciences Union (EGU) for his work advancing understanding of electric charge in Earth鈥檚 atmosphere.
Professor Giles Harrison鈥檚 pioneering use of lightweight instruments fitted to balloons and drones to take atmospheric measurements also confirmed turbulence in the atmosphere of Titan, the moon of Saturn which was discovered by Huygens in 1655.
Professor Harrison鈥檚 recent research has had a global impact, with an ongoing project investigating how charge could increase rainfall in the Middle East. This project also involves fellow Meteorology researcher Dr Keri Nicoll, who was last year awarded the Atmospheric and Space Electricity Early Career Award by the American Geophysical Union.
Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez, Head of the Department of Meteorology at the 色狗导航, said: 鈥淐ongratulations to Professor Harrison on being awarded this prestigious prize for his sustained achievements in measuring and understanding electricity in the atmosphere, and how that affects our lives.
鈥淭his award is the latest to recognise Reading researchers who are carrying out ground-breaking work in their fields, and carrying that through to making a difference to the world.鈥�
The Christiaan Huygens Medal, named after the influential 17th century Dutch scientist, is awarded annually to recognise a discovery or series of contributions over an extended period, that has led to significant progress.
Professor Harrison was officially presented with the Medal on 27 April, during a virtual ceremony in which he also delivered the Huygens Lecture.
In the lecture, he gave more insight into many new uses of weather balloons to monitor natural hazards. Professor Harrison has worked on measuring charge in Saharan dust clouds, high energy particles during space weather events, and the ash plume from the Eyjafjallaj枚kull volcano in Iceland, which grounded flights in 2010. More recently, he has used drones to investigate electrical effects on rainfall.
The EGU also praised Professor Harrison for his public engagement work, supporting the careers of others, including student supervision at all levels.
In his acceptance speech, Professor Harrison thanked the EGU and the Geosciences Instrumentation and Data Systems Division for awarding him the Huygens Medal. He said: 鈥淚t is humbling to be associated with Huygens and I鈥檓 grateful to my collaborators and, over the years, all those people who鈥檝e worked with me.鈥�
Previous EGU award winners at Reading include mathematician Professor Valerio Lucarini, who received the Lewis Fry Richardson Medal for his work applying statistical mechanics to climate processes, and flood researcher Professor Hannah Cloke, who was awarded the Plinius Medal for forecasting work such as advising the UK government on flood risk.
We are in the process of finalising our postgraduate taught courses for 2026/27 entry. In the meantime, you can view our 2025/26 courses.
