Dr James A. King MA DPhil

• DPhil Climate Science, University of Oxford, 2021
• MA, University of Oxford, 2020
• BA (Hons) Geography, University of Oxford, 2016

James completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Oxford. His doctoral research focused on understanding the drivers of climate model biases over tropical East Africa. He was also Lecturer in Physical Geography at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.

James’ previous research position was at Sheffield University, where he worked as part of Dr Maria Val Martin’s group. He used Earth system modelling approaches to investigate the unintended consequences of land-based carbon dioxide removal strategies, from atmospheric chemistry to hydrology and wildfires. Following this, he undertook a Research and Development Fellowship at DEFRA, working on the evidence underpinning international climate and biodiversity negotiations including IPBES and UNCBD.

James is interested in climate policy and ethics in addition to his scientific research. He has advised organisations in multiple sectors on climate change and has run outreach events in schools, museums, and science festivals.

Outside of work, James is involved in community climate adaptation and the creative arts. He sings tenor and supports AFC Bournemouth.

James works in the research group of Dr Ying Chen as part of the NERC-funded project ‘Quantifying Efficacy and Risks of Solar Radiation Management Approaches using Natural Analogues’ (QUESTION). He uses cutting-edge machine learning models to disentangle the impact on clouds of events such as volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and the COVID-19 lockdowns. The aim of this is to develop constraints on fundamental climate processes that will enable better understanding of the possible impacts of solar radiation modification techniques, primarily marine cloud brightening.