UEA climate science panel announced

The University of East Anglia (UEA) has announced who will be on the panel to assess the science produced by UEA’s the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) , in the second of two investigations at the university instigated by public pressure in the media over the credibility of climate research after a hacker illegally releasing private emails from staff to colleagues on climate science.

Lord Oxburgh , who is a former chair of the Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology , and a fellow of the Royal Society will chair the panel of six additional members, who start work early next month.

The appointment of the UEA panel is an unusual step for any university, which has had to consult with the Royal Society over nominations for members and the best procedures to use in order to minimize any accusations of partiality.

The UEA panel will have access to any publications or materials it requests, and all information considered relevant will be listed in their final report.

In particular the panel will look at key publications, from the body of CRU’s research referred to in the UEA submission to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee . It is unlikely that anything scientifically damaging will be found says Trevor Davies , UEA’s pro-vice-chancellor for research, as “CRU’s scientific papers have been examined by scientists from other institutions through the peer review process before being accepted for publication by international journals. We have no reason to question the effectiveness of this process.”

The panel members are: Huw Davies , professor of physics at the Institute for Atmospheric & Climate Science at ETH Zürich; Kerry Emanuel , professor of meteorology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Lisa Graumlich , director of the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at The University of Arizona; David Hand , professor of statistics in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College; Herbert Huppert , professor of theoretical geophysics at the University of Cambridge; and Michael Kelly , a professor of technology at the University of Cambridge.

“The shadow hanging over climate change and science more generally at present makes it a matter of urgency that we get on with this assessment. We will undertake this work and report as soon as possible,” said Lord Oxburgh.

Says Davies, “Our concern has been to bring together a distinguished group of independent scientists who understand the difference between assertion and evidence, and are familiar with using the latter to judge the validity of conclusions arising from science research. The panel members have the right mix of skills to understand the complex nature of climate research and the discipline-based expertise to scrutinize CRU’s research. How they do this will be entirely down to the panel.”

Paul Guinnessy

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