Press Invitation: Imperial College Environment Office Forum Seminar on Environmental Change

21 May 1999

PRESS INVITATION

Journalists are invited to attend a seminar on Environmental Change held by the Imperial College Environment Office (ICEO) on the South Kensington campus on Wednesday 2 June.

The seminar will offer journalists a chance to hear about some of the latest research on environmental change all in one afternoon.

Come and hear how the different approaches of satellite monitoring of the earth, and carefully controlled ecological experiments within sealed chambers are improving our understanding of environmental and climate change. Eight 25 minute lectures will present a snapshot of the variety of multi-disciplinary environmental research currently being carried out at Imperial College, London.

These will also include two distinguished external speakers who will open the seminar with special overviews from their areas.

Dr Michael Grubb of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, will discuss climate policy development and the role of integrated assessment following last years Kyoto summit, while Professor Nick Russell of Wye College will talk about the climate change indicators found in the Antarctic.

Guests from industry, from the research councils, from government and from collaborating university groups, will also attend the seminar.

Outline programme:

1300-1425 Registration, poster session and coffee

1430-1430 Dr Tariq Ali, ICEO - Introduction and welcome

1435-1445 Sir Ron Oxburgh, Rector of Imperial College - Opening address

Chair of Seminar: Sir John Mason, Imperial College

1445-1515 Dr Michael Grubb, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House - Climate policy development and the Kyoto Protocol: policy analysis and the role of integrated assessment

1515-1540 Professor Nick Russell, Head of Biological Sciences, Wye College - Antarctic microbiology as a global indicator of climate change

1540-1555 Professor Dennis Anderson, T H Huxley School of Environment, Earth Sciences and Engineering - Energy policies and technologies

1555-1605 Questions

1605-1625 Coffee and chance to view posters

1625-1655 Dr John Mumford, Director of Imperial College Centre for Environmental Technology (ICCET) - Environmental Change and the T H Huxley School: Perspectives from Earth Science, and Environmental Technology

1655-1720 Professor John Harries, Physics - The physics and measurement of environmental change

1720-1745 Professor Howard Wheater, Civil and Environmental Engineering - Global modelling and climate change impacts - a civil and environmental engineering perspective

1745-1810 Dr Hefin Jones, Ecotron Project Leader, Centre for Population Biology, Silwood Park - Predicting climate change from micro-communities

1810-1825 Professor Richard Macrory, ICCET - Questions and concluding comments

Following the end of this session there will be a drinks reception hosted by Pro-Rector Professor Tim Clark, in the Solar Room, 170 Queens Gate.

Notes to editors:

1. The seminar will be take place in Room 201, Level 2, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College, South Kensington, SW7. The nearest tube station is South Kensington, on the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. An online map can be found at: http://www.publications.ad.ic.ac.uk/maps/sk.stm The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is in building no. 9.

2. The Imperial College Environment Office (previously known as the Graduate School of the Environment) was set-up in Spring 1995 to support and promote the environmental research and teaching activities at the College.

Further information about the Office and its activities can be found on its website at http://www.iceo.ic.ac.uk/

3. Imperial College had the highest total income of all UK university institutions in 1998 at £309 million. This beats Oxfords £304 million and Cambridges £293 million. (Source: Nobles Higher Education Financial Yearbook). IC also has the largest research income (£180m) and the largest working estate of any university institution in the UK and was rated second overall in the Financial Times Guide to Britain's top 100 universities (Financial Times 1 April 1999).

Registration and further details available from:

Imperial College Environment Office
Room B348, Bessemer Building
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
London SW7 2AZ

Tel: 0171-594 7460
Fax: 0171-594 7462
Email: ICEO@imperial.ac.uk