James McKay

Profile

I manage the UNRISK CDT, a Centre for Doctoral Training funded by NERC (UKRI) which trains 3 cohorts of >40 PhD students. I have over 15 years of previous experience managing 3 EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training (Low Carbon Technologies EP/G036608/1, Bioenergy EP/L014912/1 and Water-WISER EP/S022066/1), as well as an EU Marie Curie Training Network.

I am also an award-winning artist and science communicator. I have illustrated both scientific papers and popular books about ancient life, including Dinosaurs of the British Isles (with Dean Lomax); Trilobites, Dinosaurs and Mammoths (Palaeontological Association); and Yorkshire's Amazing Dinosaur Coast, with Roger Osborne. My art depicting a Mesozoic forest from Antarctica featured on the cover of the journal Nature.

Described by author Rob Hopkins as 'the man who draws the future', I use art to inspire climate action. My visions of a positive future where people adapt to and mitigate climate change have been informed by research projects within the CDTs. I have led collaborative public engagement projects including Dreams of a Low Carbon Future and animated environmental film ‘No One is an Island’. My work has been featured on BBC radio, and I was shortlisted for both the NCCPE Engage Awards (2014); and the IIASA international prize for visioning positive futures (2022). I won the Marsh Palaeoart Award 2026.

Responsibilities

• Manager of the NERC-funded UNRISK CDT programme
• Partnerships specialist for PhD projects across Earth, Environment, Sustainability

Professional memberships

• PRISM network (Research investment managers)
• Palaeontological Association
• Palaeontographical Society