Chris Smith

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leeds, UK and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria. My research focuses on the driving forces behind climate change – radiative forcing – and the resulting global climate impacts.

I run and analyse complex climate models (such as those developed by the UK Met Office), and have helped developed a simpler climate model emulator that is quick to run (FaIR). This was used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C and 2021-2022 Sixth Assessment Report to investigate the global temperature response to hundreds of future emissions pathways.

In my research I have also investigated how eliminating fossil fuel use can meet the aims of the Paris Agreement. My PhD was also at the University of Leeds on the interaction of climate change with solar energy. I completed a Masters in Mathematics at the University of Nottingham in 2008. My interest in computational modelling, energy, and seeking solutions to climate change, led me to where I am now.