Potsdam, 1 November 2004
Queen Elizabeth II has appointed Professor Hans Joachim ("John") Schellnhuber, Founding Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Research Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, an Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). The award is granted in recognition of Schellnhuber's exceptional commitment to climate research and to British-German collaboration. Schellnhuber will receive the Queen's congratulations on the award during her fourth state visit to Germany.
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber heads two research institutes: The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Britain. He is currently engaged in developing a German-British network on climate research, which sees itself as a core for pan-European activity. As a scientist, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is a pioneer of integrative research and someone who is not afraid to put forward his knowledge on the complex risks associated with global warming in the public and political discussion on the subject and to fight for a bolder policy on climate protection. Since as long ago as 1992 he has advised the German federal government as a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change. That "his efforts to bring about a turning point in climate policy" have been honoured by the Queen in this form is a great tribute to him.
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber was born in 1950 in Ortenburg, Bavaria. He studied physics and mathematics at the University of Regensburg. After his doctorate in theoretical physics he spent periods of research abroad and received his habilitation in 1985, followed by a Heisenberg Fellowship. In 1989 he began a professorship at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Sciences (ICBM) at the University of Oldenburg, later becoming its Director. In 1991 he became the Founding Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Since 2001 he has been engaged in promoting the development of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Norwich, UK, as its Research Director.
Contact:
PIK, Anja Wirsing, e-mail press@pik-potsdam.de, phone ++49 331 288-2507
Tyndall Centre, Asher Minns, email a.minns@uea.ac.uk, phone ++44 1603 593906
WBGU, Dr. Benno Pilardeaux, email bpilardeaux@wbgu.de, phone ++49 30 26394812
Britische Botschaft Berlin, Jonathan Brenton, phone ++49 30 20457251
