Giles Harrison

Giles Harrison is Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, where he has served twice as Head of Department. His research work continues over 250 years of UK studies in atmospheric electricity, in its modern form an interdisciplinary topic at the intersection of aerosol physics, solar-climate interactions, scientific sensor development and the retrieval of quantitative data from historical sources.

He has authored or co-authored over 250 papers, co-edited a conference volume on Planetary Atmospheric Electricity. and a postgraduate textbook on meteorological instruments. His research includes some of the first airborne measurements in UK airspace of Icelandic volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull, during the April 2010 flight ban.

He was educated at Marling School Stroud, and St Catharine’s College Cambridge. He holds doctorates from Imperial College London (PhD 1992), and the University of Cambridge (ScD 2014). He is a member of the Academia Europea and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2011 he was the Bill Bright lecturer at the International Electrostatics Conference and in 2016 he was awarded the Appleton Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics.