Our Community
Meet the people that make the Walker Institute what it is.
Our people come from a wide range of backgrounds and areas of expertise, but they all have one thing in common. They’re committed to using scientific research to help the people who are most at risk from the impacts of climate change.
Walker Core Team

Rosalind Cornforth
Walker Institute Director

Celia Petty
Deputy Director, Strategic Lead Livelihoods

Ted Shepherd
Grantham Chair in Climate Science and Professor in the School of Mathematical Physical & Computational Sciences

Zarina Saidaliyeva
Research Assistant

Daniel Mardi
Interdisciplinary Research Fellow

Heidi Llanwarne
Interdisciplinary Research Fellow

Dr Yan Ren
Visiting Research Fellow

Marah McGuire
Operations Support Officer

Lynn De Miranda
Communications Officer

Konstantina Pratta
Walker Academy Support Coordinator/Facilitator

Ashley Burke
International Partnership Manager
Research Students and Interns

Robert Muthami
Research student-PhD -EITTA programme (Walker Institute) and School of Law

Stella Ngoleka
Research student-PhD -EITTA programme (Walker Institute) - School of Mathematics, Physical and Computational Sciences

Will Shields
Research Student - PhD - EITTA Programme (Walker Institute), School of Mathematics, Physical and Computational Sciences

Fiona Spuler
Research Student-PhD (Walker Institute), School of Mathematics, Physical and Computational Sciences
Walker Institute Alumni

Luisa Ciampi
Interdisciplinary Researcher - Cambridge University

Heather Plumpton
Head of Research - Green Alliance Charity

Elena Saggioro
Senior Analyst at the UK's Climate Change Committee and Walker Visiting Research Fellow

Grady Walker
Visual Methods Action Researcher and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading

Cathie Wells
Research Fellow - Public Sector
Walker Institute Associates

James Acidri
Global Head of Humanitarian Food Security and Livelihoods in Save the Children International

Andrew Ainslie
Associate Professor in the Department of International Development in the School of Agriculture Policy & Development, University of Reading

Richard Allan
Professor in the Department of Meteorology in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, University of Reading

Alex Arnall
Associate Professor of Environment and Development / Human Geography in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Tabarak Ballal
Professor and Programme Director of MSc Construction Management and International Development in the School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading

Jake Bishop
Lecturer in Crop Science and Production in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading

Andrew Bennett
President of the Tropical Agricultural Association

Jochen Broecker
Associate Professor in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, University of Reading

Emily Black
Professor of Terrestrial Processes and Climate in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences at the University of Reading

Anlan Chen
Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Henley Business School and a member of the Centre for Euro-Asian Studies and Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship

Dai Clegg
Visiting Researcher at Reading University

Cristina Cerulli
Professor or Architecture in the School of Built Environment, University of Reading

Lord Crisp
Co-Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health & Former CEO of NHS

Jo Davies
Associate Professor in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading

Rohan Deb Roy
Associate Professor in South Asian History in the School of Humanities, University of Reading

Irem Dikmen
Professor in the School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading

Emmanuel Essah
Associate Professor in the School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading

Pete Falloon
Climate Service Lead – Food, Farming & Natural Environment at Met Office. Sustainability Director - Food Drink Devon CIC. Associate Professor - School of Biology, University of Bristol. FRMetS, FRSA

Irene Garnelo-Gomez
Assistant Professor in Marketing and Sustainability, IQS School of Management, Ramon Llull University

Amadou Thierno Gaye
Professor of Climate science and Data analysis at the University Cheikh-Anta-Diop of Dakar (UCAD) of Dakar

Manuela Gonzalez-Suarez
Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading

Irina Heim
Lecturer in Henley Business School, University of Reading

Chris Hilson
Professor of Law In the School of Law, University of Reading

Sir Brian Hoskins
Emeritus Professor of Meteorology, University of Reading

Chubbamenla Jamir
Independent consultant in Agriculture and food systems

Marie Juanchich
Professor of Psychology at the University of Essex

Selam Kidane Abebe
Senior Research Fellow in Net Zero Law at the Oxford Net Zero Programme at the University of Oxford

Vanessa Lawrence
Former Director General and CEO, Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s national mapping agency working globally in the application of Space, Geospatial and AI

Stella Lignou
Associate Professor in Sensory and Consumer Science in the School of Chemistry, Food & Pharmacy, University of Reading

Valerio Lucarini
Professor of Applied Mathematics in the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Leicester

Christopher Maidment
Lecturer in Planning, Real Estate & Planning, Henley Business School

Roger Matthews
Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Reading

Wendy Matthews
Associate Professor in Archaeology in the School of Archaeology Geography and Environmental Science (SAGES)

John Methven
Professor of Atmospheric Dynamics in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, University of Reading

Lisa Methven
Professor of Food and Nutritional Sciences in the School of Chemistry Food & Pharmacy, University of Reading

Alexander Mihailov
Associate Professor in Economics in the School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Reading

Virginia Murray
Consultant in Global Disaster Risk Reduction at Public Health England

Richard Nunes
Associate Professor of Planning and Sustainability in the Henley Business School

Aida Opoku-Mensah
Former UN Economic Commission for Africa Chief of Staff to the Executive Secretary & Special Advisor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ICT

David Phizacklea
People networking, business systems and technical troubleshooting expert

Etienne Roesch
Professor of Applied Statistics & Cognitive Science, in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading

Claire Ryder
Associate Professor in Mineral Dust Processes in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, University of Reading

Richard Selby
Head of portfolio - NTD Research, Sightsavers

Deepa Senapathi
Associate Professor in the Department of Sustainable Land Management in the School of Agriculture Policy & Development, University of Reading

Maria Shahgedanova
Professor of Climate Science at the Department of Geography and Environmental Science in the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading

Joy Singarayer
Professor of Palaeoclimatology in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences, University of Reading

Vandana Singh
Professor of physics and environment in the Department of Environment, Society and Sustainability at Framingham State University, in Massachusetts, USA

Stefan Thor Smith
Professor in the Department of Construction Management and Engineering & Research Division Lead in the School of the Built Environment, University of Reading

Aondover Tarhule
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Illinois State University

Anne Verhoef
Professor of Soil Physics and Micrometeorology in the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences (SAGES), University of Reading

Bernd Vogel
Professor in Leadership at Henley Business School

Grady Walker
Visual Methods Action Researcher and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading

Gabriel Yesuf
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Environmental Modelling in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading