Chief Science Advisor, International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI)

Dr James Kirkham currently works at the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), where he serves as the Chief Science Advisor and Coordinator of the Ambition on Melting Ice (AMI) High-level Group on Sea-level Rise and Mountain Water Resources.

James is a glaciologist and climate scientist working at the interface between science and international climate policy. He received his PhD and MPhil degrees in Antarctic climate science from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic survey, and a BSc in geography from Durham University. He has undertaken field campaigns to Antarctica as a geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey, including to Thwaites Glacier — one of the most rapidly changing and unstable glaciers in the world. He has also worked as a snow scientist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal, installing and analysing high-altitude weather stations to improve understanding of high-mountain water security.