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
Elena Saggioro
Research Fellow
Zarina Saidaliyeva
Research Assistant
Daniel Mardi
Interdisciplinary Research Fellow
Dr Yan Ren
Visiting Research Fellow
Konstantina Pratta
Walker Academy Support Coordinator/Facilitator
Marah McGuire
Operations Support Officer
Ashley Burke
International Partnership Manager
Emma Robinson
Research Accountant
Research Students and Interns
Lynn De Miranda
Walker Intern, Food Biosystems DTP, School of Biological Sciences
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 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
Andrew Bennett
President of the Tropical Agricultural Association
Jake Bishop
Lecturer in Crop Science and Production in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading
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
Cristina Cerulli
Professor or Architecture in the School of Built Environment, 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
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
Programme Director for the BSc in Business and Management (Marketing) and a Fellow of the HEA, Henley Business School
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
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
Wendy Matthews
Associate Professor in Archaeology in the School of Archaeology Geography and Environmental Science (SAGES)
Roger Matthews
Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Reading
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
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
Bernd Vogel
Professor in Leadership at Henley Business School
Gabriel Yesuf
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Environmental Modelling in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading
Grady Walker
Visual Methods Action Researcher and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading