1. Faculty of Environment
  2. School of Earth and Environment
  3. People
  4. Profile
Professor James Ford

Professor James Ford

  • Position: Priestley Chair in Climate Adaptation
  • Areas of expertise: Climate change vulnerability & adaptation; Arctic; Indigenous peoples; community based research; adaptation tracking
  • Email: J.Ford2@leeds.ac.uk
  • Location: 10.23 Priestley Building
  • Website: Twitter | Googlescholar | ORCID

Profile

I am a Priestley Chair in Climate Adaptation at the Priestley International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds. My research focuses on how climate change is experienced, understood, and responded to at community level, with a major focus on health and well-being, food security, wildfires, and resource management. I mostly work with Indigenous peoples in the Arctic, but I have also been involved in projects across the global south, including the COVID-Observatories which is working with Indigenous peoples in 12 nations. At a global to regional scale, I am active in developing novel approaches to tracking climate change adaptation (including using big data and machine learning), developing systematic review approaches in an environmental change context.

Since 2015 I have been editor-in-chief at Regional Environmental Change, and I have served as a lead author on national and international climate assessments including the IPCCs Special Report on 1.5C of warming and associated Summary for Policy Makers, and the Arctic Council’s Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic assessment. I currently serve on the International Arctic Science Committee’s Social and Human Working Group, and represent the UK on the Multidisciplinary Expert Scientific Advisory Group to UNEPs landmark GEO-7 Assessment. I have published >270 peer reviewed articles and in 2021 I was ranked 49th in the Reuters Hot List of 1,000 top climate scientists globally.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • PhD, Geography
  • MSc, Environmnental Change
  • BA, Geography

Student education

I am module leader for SOEE5281: Introduction to Sustainability

I teach on SOEE5550M: Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation

I teach on GEOG1055: Environmental Change: Past and Future

Research groups and institutes

  • Climate Change Adaptation, Vulnerability and Services
  • Sustainability Research Institute

Current postgraduate researchers

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>