The CCRM Team
Dr Stephan Harrison
Associate Professor of Quaternary Science
Senior Research Associate, Oxford University Centre for the Environment
Director of Climate Change Risk Management
Dr Stephan Harrison has a PhD in Quaternary Science and over 20 years research experience in climate change and mountain geomorphology. He has worked for twelve field seasons on glacier fluctuations and climate change in Patagonia. Between 1996 and 2000 he worked on an EU-funded project which examined glacier retreat, climate change and hydrological responses in the northern Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan. In such arid regions of central Asia much of the water used for economic development comes from summer melting of glaciers and permafrost. With global warming, such supplies are under threat and this will have profound political, economic and social repercussions.
Stephan is a member of the Environmental Research Group of the Institute of Actuaries and has advised Local Authorities on climate change impacts. He runs CCRM’s project on climate change in Russia with AEAT and Russian governmental and scientific organisations, which is funded by the UK Foreign Office. He is a director of Climate Change Solutions.
Research Interests and Expertise
Thematic Areas:
- Southern Hemisphere climate change
- Glacier retreat and water supply problems in central Asia
- Geomorphology and slope stability
World Regions of Interest:
- Central Asia
- European Alps
- UK
- South America
Examples of Research/Consultancy Topics
- Hazard assessment in Kazakhstan associated with climate change
- Slope instability in South America and glacier retreat
- Water supply problems in central Asia
Selected Recent Publications
- Harrison S and Stainforth DA (in press) Predicting future climate change: lessons from emergence, reductionism and the past. Eos, AGU.
- Harrison S (2009). Predicted future climate change, glacier response and water supply implications in arid regions of low-latitude South America. IN: 3rd World Water Development Report, UNESCO/WMO, Paris.
- Lettenmaier D and Harrison S (2009). Global trends in snow storage, IN: 3rd World Water Development Report, UNESCO/WMO, Paris.
- Harrison S (2009). Climate sensitivity: implications for the response of mountain geomorphological systems to future climate change. IN: Knight, J. and Harrison, S. (eds) Periglacial and paraglacial processes and environments. Geological Society Special Publication.
- Harrison S (2008). Climate change and regional security: assessing the scientific uncertainties. Journal of the Royal United Services Institute, 153, 161-168.
- Harrison S, Winchester V and Glasser NF (2007). The timing and nature of recession of outlet glaciers of Hielo PatagĂłnico Norte, Chile, from their Neoglacial IV (Little Ice Age) maximum positions. Global and Planetary Change, Vol. 59, 67-78.
- Harrison S (2006). Recession of mountain glaciers and global climate change. IN: T Downing (ed.) Atlas of Climate Change. Earthscan.
- Harrison S (2005). Climate change, future conflict and the role of climate science. Journal of the Royal United Services Institute, Vol. 150, No. 6, 18-23.
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