The IMA is delighted to announce the launch of its first Special Interest Group (SIG) on Climate, Environment and Sustainability (CES). The creation of SIGs is part of IMA Strategy 2023-2028 (ima.org.uk/23316/ima-strategy-2023-2028/), particularly our goal to ‘showcase and develop mathematics for societal challenges’.
The purpose of the CES SIG is to provide a forum for IMA members interested in climate, environment and sustainability matters – engaging the mathematical sciences community, especially IMA members, in these critical areas.
The CES SIG Steering Group is responsible for organising conferences, providing expert advice and supporting the IMA on related issues. It also aims to encourage, disseminate and celebrate excellent mathematicalresearch in climate, environment and sustainability.
Planned activities include an inaugural conference/workshop, with further information to be announced in due course. In the meantime, the CES SIG warmly welcomes your interest and input. If you would like to get in touch, please email sigs@ima.org.uk.
The SIG has been established by its founding Steering Committee. Meet the members below.
Francisco de Melo Viríssimo – London School of Economics
Francisco is a mathematician working at the interface of mathematics and environmental sciences. His research interests include marine biogeochemistry, climate prediction and nonlinear dynamics. His work on the mathematics of climate prediction earned him a STEM for BRITAIN award at the Houses of Parliament in 2024.
Francisco first joined the IMA in 2015 and has since been highly involved with the Institute in a variety of roles. His leadership experience includes co-chairing the ECM Committee (2018-2022) and serving as a Trustee and Member of Council.
Through the CES SIG, Francisco aims to place mathematics and the IMA at the heart national conversations around climate, environment and sustainability, while also fostering connections among IMA members and the broader community.
Natacha Johnson CMath MIMA – Heathrow Airport Limited
Natacha completed her MMath from the University of Bath in 2017, and has since been focusing on applying mathematics in industrial contexts. She is engaged in developing, applying and refining modelling approaches to understand and address greenhouse gas emissions.
Recognised as a subject matter expert through her involvement in various industrial working groups, including the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and Airport Carbon Accreditation, Natacha has a deep understanding of the challenges that industries face in grappling with climate, environmental and sustainability issues. She also strongly believes in the vital role that mathematicians can play in addressing these challenges.
As a relatively new member to the IMA – achieving Chartered Mathematician (CMath) status in 2023 – Natacha sees this CES SIG represents a key opportunity to help bridge the gap between academia and industry.
Chris Budd OBE, FIMA, CMath, NTF – University of Bath
Chris has been a dedicated member of the IMA for as long as he can remember. He is a current a Trustee of the IMA and serves on both the IMA Council and Research Committee. He previously held the role of Vice- President for Communications, during
which he led the organisation of the IMA’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Chris has been Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath for 30 years. He also serves as a Super Champion of the KE Hub and Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Institution.
Much of Chris’s current research focuses on the mathematical aspects of climate change. He works closely with the Met Office and the Hadley Centre to help develop and validate climate models. Recently, he has been applying machine learning-based methods to bridge the gap between climate models and real-world data.
A passionate populariser of mathematics, Chris frequently gives talks to schools and science festivals, highlighting the importance of mathematics in predicting climate change. His recent book, Climate, Chaos, and Covid: How Mathematical Models Describe the Universe (see page 88), explores some of this work.
Through the CES SIG, Chris aims to harness the collective power of the IMA to make a difference in our understanding of climate change and improve the way this knowledge is communicated to policymakers and the general public.
Dawn Geatches – Innovate UK Business Connect
Dawn works in knowledge exchange and transfer at Innovate UK Business Connect, where she serves as the Knowledge Transfer Manager for Mathematical and Computational Sciences. With a deep passion for
all things environmental, she recently joined the IMA specifically to become a founding member of the CES SIG.
Dawn holds a first degree in Mathematical Sciences and a PhD in Computational Physics. After completing her PhD, she worked as a
computational research scientist, exploring energy materials at the atomic and electronic structure levels. Dawn’s goal is to bring together IMA members, businesses, industry, government and not-for-profit organisations to tackle pressing environmental challenges – particularly those related to the growing use of AI and its associated energy consumption and impact on natural resources.
Tiffany Vlaar – University of Glasgow
Tiffany is a Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, an
ELLIS Member, a WiML Board Member, and the organiser of the One World Mathematics of Machine Learning Seminar. Her research agenda is closely aligned with the aims of the CES SIG.
Previously, Tiffany was a postdoctoral researcher at Mila and holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Edinburgh. During her PhD, she co- founded the UK-wide Piscopia Initiative, was a Turing enrichment student, served as a member of the IMA ECM Committee, and was Vice-President of both the SIAM and IMA Edinburgh student chapter.
Tiffany is passionate about facilitating creative interdisciplinary solutions and knowledge sharing activities that apply mathematics and AI to address challenges in climate, environment & sustainability.
