The study is being steered by an expert panel chaired by Professor Sir David Read, a Vice-President of the Royal Society. A wide range of experts in forestry and climate change are contributing material. The role of the expert panel is to guide the work of the authors and the content of the report to ensure that the assessment is subject to robust and independent scrutiny.
A project team from the Forestry Commission and Forest Research will assemble the contributions from authors and submit an edited report to the expert panel.
The members of the expert panel have expertise in a wide range of relevant disciplines and their areas of specialist input are listed below:
- Professor Sir David Read (plant physiology and ecology and chair of the panel)
Lately Biological Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society. He is also Emeritus Professor of Plant Sciences in the University of Sheffield. - Jeremy Eppel (agriculture and rural affairs)
Deputy Director of the Farming for Future Programme in Defra. He leads on projects on climate change and agriculture and sits on the Rural Climate Change Forum. - Professor John Handley OBE (urban and social)
Professor of Land Restoration and Management at the University of Manchester. His current research focuses on landscape dynamics and the management of change, and the development of adaptation strategies for climate change impacts. - Professor Nick Hanley (economics)
Professor of Environmental Economics at Stirling University. He has wide experience in environmental valuation, cost-benefit analysis, and agricultural economics. - Professor Paul Jarvis (forestry and carbon cycling)
A leading expert in the field of forests in relation to the atmosphere. He has been elected to various fellowships including that of the Royal Society. - Dr Keith Kirby (biodiversity)
Natural England’s senior specialist on woodlands and widely experienced in biodiversity and the natural environment. - Dr Gert-Jan Nabuurs (international research, IPCC forestry experience)
Assistant Director of the European Forest Institute in Finland. He was the coordinating lead author of the ‘forestry’ chapter for the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report. - Professor Martin Parry OBE (agriculture, land-use, IPCC experience)
Visiting Research Fellow at Grantham Institute and Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London. His other positions have included chair of the IPCC’s Task Group on Scenarios for Climate Impact Assessment. - Dr Ed Suttie (timber and wood products)
Director of Timber Research at BRE, and a member of the Scottish Forest Industries Cluster. He has published widely on timber protection, coatings and wood durability. - Dr Chris West (impacts, scenarios)
Director of the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) which is funded by Defra and based at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment. UKCIP helps organisations assess how they might be affected by climate change, so they can prepare for its impacts.
Forestry Commission project team:
- Wilma Harper
Head of the Corporate and Forestry Support Division of the Forestry Commission and Secretary to the Board of commissioners. - Simon Hodge
Head of Policy for Forestry Commission Scotland. - Professor Peter Freer-Smith
Director of Research at Forest Research. - Dr James Morison
Head of Climate Change research at Forest Research. - Dr Pat Snowdon (secretary)
Principal Economist and Climate Change Adviser at the Forestry Commission.
Assessment timescale
The study began in September 2008 and will be completed in summer 2009.
Contacts
You can contact the Experts Panel and the Forestry Commission project team via Pat Snowdon.
