Luke Abraham taken by Michael Webb ©University of Cambridge
Please join us in celebrating Dr Luke Abraham’s new title of Director of Research, which is a top rank on the Senior Researcher pathway and is considered to be equivalent to Professor (Grade 12).
Luke is part of the Centre for Atmospheric Science in the Department, where he is interested in chemistry-climate models. He comments:
“I am immensely grateful for the support I have received from the Department of Chemistry, the Atmospherics group, and other collaborators from across the University, the UK, and internationally during my time in Cambridge, as well as from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science who fund my position. My work would not have been possible without the excellent people and research environment fostered within the University.”
Luke joined the department in 2007, after completing his PhD in physics at the University of York. He is also a researcher at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), a NERC-supported research centre, where he leads the technical development of the United Kingdom Chemistry and Aerosols (UKCA) model.
The UKCA model simulates the chemistry of the atmosphere and is a core component of the UK Earth System Model, which enables research into climate change by researchers in the UK and internationally. UKESM allows scientists to simulate the interactions between many different environmental processes and to help understand how our planet might change in the future.
Additionally, he is the Training Theme Leader for NCAS, overseeing their portfolio of postgraduate short courses such as the Climate Modelling Summer School.
More recently, Luke has been preparing for future supercomputing hardware to enable scientists and software engineers to develop even bigger and more detailed models. Another project he has been leading involves developing software that can easily compare computer models of the atmosphere to observations taken by research aircraft on flight campaigns.
Luke adds: “One of my most recent projects, funded by the SPF ExCALIBUR project and done in collaboration with the Met Office and NVIDIA, has been to implement UKCA on graphical processing units in preparation for running this complex model on the next generation of supercomputing systems.”
Head of Department Dr James Keeler comments:
“Please join me in congratulating Dr Luke Abraham on his promotion to Director of Research. The title of Director of Research is not awarded frequently so this is a particular distinction for Luke and recognition of the important role he plays in developing and maintaining these climate models.”