Environmental Physics, Caribbean Climate Variability, Climatology, Climate Change
Professor Michael Taylor joined The UWI in 1999 as a Lecturer in the Department of Physics. In 2008 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer, appointed Head of the Department of Physics in 2009, and elevated to the rank of Professor in 2013. In 2014 he was appointed deputy dean for the Faculty of Science and Technology.
Professor Taylor is also the Director of the Climate Studies Group, Mona (CSGM), a position he has held since 2007. He has since then successfully positioned the CSGM as a centre of regional thought and expertise with respect to climate change science and as the lead centre for coordinating regional climate modelling efforts,” the news release said.
Professor Taylor is an alumnus of The UWI, Mona campus where he received his BSc in General and Environmental Physics with 1st Class Honours. He also pursued his MPhil at The UWI, then earned his PhD from the University of Maryland. Professor Taylor’s research has focused on determining the scientific imprint of climate change in, and at the scale of, the Caribbean islands. His work, which has resulted in over one hundred publications, including 16 book chapters and 50 journal papers, has garnered more than 4000 citations to date and brought international recognition for regional science.
Aside from his core duties, Professor Taylor has served in a number of capacities throughout the University including on the Board for Graduate Studies and Research, the Quality Assurance Review Team for Physics, and the Mona Strategic Planning Committee, among others. He currently supports both the Cross Campus Climate Studies Advisory Board, and occasionally chairs various scholarship panels for the Office of Student Financing.
In 2017, Professor Taylor was appointed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a Coordinating Lead Author for the Special Report on 1.5 Degrees. He has attracted in excess of US$20 million in research grants and funding to The UWI and received 13 Principal's Awards for Research and the Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research. In 2013, Professor Taylor received the Silver Musgrave Medal for Science from the Institute of Jamaica.
Outside The UWI, Professor Taylor serves on a number of national and regional boards and committees. He is a member of the Climate Change Advisory Board in Jamaica's Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Climate Change for the Ministry of Land, Water, Environment, and Climate Change from 2012-2016.
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