About Stephen Belcher

Stephen Belcher

Areas of expertise include:

• Atmospheric and oceanic turbulence  
• Boundary layer meteorology, especially urban meteorology  
• Ocean mixed layer  
• Dispersion and transport in the atmosphere  
• Impact of climate change on urban areas  

Publications by Stephen

Current activities

As Head of the Met Office Hadley Centre, Stephen leads the Climate Science directorate, providing scientific direction to its 6 areas; Earth System Science; Climate impacts; Climate Monitoring; Cryosphere and Oceans; Seasonal to decadal and Understanding Climate. Together these areas provide the science and model developments key to understanding climate variability and projecting future change and its impacts.  
 
Stephen also manages the delivery of climate science research under the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme, funded by DECC and Defra.

Stephen leads the OSMOSIS project, part of the NERC Ocean Surface Boundary Layer Programme and also the
ClearFlo project, part of the NERC Urban Atmospheric Science Programme.

Career background

Stephen obtained his PhD in fluid dynamics from the University of Cambridge. Following work as a research fellow at Stanford and Cambridge he moved to the University of Reading, becoming Head of School, School of Mathematics, Meteorology and Physics in 2007. In 2010 he became the joint Met Office Chair in Weather Systems and joined the Met Office as Head of the Met Office Hadley Centre in 2012.

External recognition

• Stephen is a member of the NERC Science and Innovation Strategy Board.
• Stephen was a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies on Volcanic Ash led by the UK Government Office for Science 
• Stephen is a former associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
• Stephen received the Rosenstiel Award for Oceanography in 2002. The award is presented annually by the University of Miami for outstanding research in oceanographic science.