Peter ABBOTT

Peter Abbott joined the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) in October 2024 as a Visiting Scholar. At WCRP he will be supporting the production of a report assessing our understanding of high impact climate events and tipping points, within the framework of the Safe Landing Climates Lighthouse Activity.

Peter completed a PhD at Swansea University, UK in 2009 and has subsequently worked as a post-doctoral scholar in the UK at the Universities of St Andrews, Swansea and Cardiff and in Switzerland at the University of Bern. His research has primarily focused on identifying ash from past volcanic eruptions in palaeoclimatic sequences (tephrochronology) to improve knowledge of the mechanisms controlling past climate, reconstruct volcanic histories and constrain the climatic impact of past eruptions. He was Vice-President of the INQUA International Focus Group on Tephrochronology and latterly the IAVCEI Commission on Tephrochronology between 2015-2023.

In his free time Peter likes to spend time with his wife and two young daughters and to explore the local Swiss and French mountains on two feet, two wheels or a snowboard.