Dr. Benedicte
Cuenot
I
am the co-leader of Activity 2 in the QUANTIFY project. Being a researcher in
combustion, I naturally came to study the impact of combustion in the environment
when I realized that more than 90% of the energy produced in our world involves
a combustion process. Today I lead a research group in a non-profit research center (http://www.cerfacs.fr) in the field of combustion,
engines and furnaces. This implies impressive experiments, huge numerical
simulations and a direct link to applications like rocket engines, piston
engines, aeronautical gas turbines or coal furnaces. Although humanity has built
its superiority on the control of fire, very little is known about this very complex
phenomenon and it is a studied with passion by a lot of scientists. My
motivation and interest in this field is based on the challenge of combustion
understanding, but it also comes from the satisfaction to contribute to the industrial history
of our countries, and to promote the protection
of our environment. I discovered
this field during the third year of my studies at Ecole
Centrale de Paris, and after one year spent in the
My
day-to-day job is shared between many different activities: teaching, students
supervising, research, group management, contract management,
scientific expertise, conferences, etc ... Among all these tasks my preferred ones are those where I meet
students. I am supervising about ten PhD students and it is always a real pleasure to discuss and encourage
them, and to find after three years of hard work that they know much more than
myself on their topic: it is then my turn to learn and I really enjoy that.
I
have however one regret, that young female students do not seem interested by
this type of job. The words
"engine" and "mechanics" may not be so attractive to them,
but I strongly encourage young ladies to overcome their a priori and go beyond
the words: they will discover an activity that is fully compatible with their
personal life and that is among the most rewarding.
Dr Ellie Highwood
I
lead a workpackage in QUANTIFY examining the response
of the climate
system to changes in particulates, especially those from transport sources. This
involves computer simulations of climate change. I am Senior Lecturer in
Climate Physics in the Department of Meteorology at the
These
days, I have to divide my time between research, teaching and administration,
so it is quite rare that I get to look at any real data myself. I am lucky in
that I lead a great team of aerosol researchers and PhD students who keep me up to date! I
am also the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Meteorology and lecture in
cloud physics. I enjoy
talking about climate change to the general public and have given talks in schools, and even pubs!
Meteorology is a great subject since it affects directly both our daily lives and the
future health of our planet. It is rewarding to work in a subject area that
people are genuinely interested in. My biggest challenge is juggling the
different parts of my job, but at least this ensures that I am never bored.
Dr. Kristin Rypdal
I
am involved in the development of emission inventories and scenarios in QUANTIFY.
I am a senior research fellow at
My
main interests are emission inventories and mitigation scenarios – in particular
aspects related to uncertainties, quality and verification and linkages between
air quality and climate policies and I particularly enjoy interdisiplinary
work. I currently work on project related to transport, forest and carbon
capture and storage and black carbon. I
use much of my time for international work, in addition to Quantify, I am a coordinating
lead author on the new IPCC inventory guidelines and I am the chair of the Task
Force on Emission Inventories and Projections under EMEP. I am also interested
in developing inventories in developing countries.