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by Andreas Christen

Be aware of fraudulent IAUC emails

2021-07-05 in IAUC Statements

During recent days, several IAUC members have confirmed that they received fraudulent emails seemingly originating from our president or board members with subjects like “IAUC LOGISTICS SUPPORT REQUEST” asking for bank information and personal data. Please be careful and do not respond to such emails. IAUC would never ask for such information by email. The emails do not originate from our president, the board member nor any member of the IAUC community even if they are signed with proper names and original email addresses. We are currently investigating if and possibly how IAUC membership emails were obtained and ensure our true emails are have an electronic certificate.

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by Andreas Christen

Joint international climate communiqué

2021-03-23 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements

Weather and climate services and observations are essential to support the assessment of climate risk and inform mitigation and adaptation strategies including in cities. We urge governments to support service providers with appropriate resources to sustain crucial services and observations.

Together with national meteorological societies and associations, the IAUC is taking the occasion of today’s World Meteorology Day to reiterate the critical importance of addressing climate change.

The effects of human-produced greenhouse gases on the climate are increasingly and overwhelmingly evident. The three warmest years on record, including 2020 (at about 1.2°C higher than before the industrial revolution), have all occurred since the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit climate change. The global average temperature was near a record high in 2020 despite the presence of a temporary cooling of the Pacific due to La Niña, thus indicating a continued underlying warming trend.

We stress that to meet the Paris goals, the world needs to raise its ambition significantly to be in line with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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by Andreas Christen

New Engagement Committee hosts monthly webinars starting November 6

2020-10-21 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements, Meetings, Members, Resources

The IAUC is looking forward to engage with you and continue the Urban Climate dialogue despite the ongoing global pandemic. We have formed an Engagement Committee with a plan for virtual activities in the absence of face-to-face events in 2020-2021. As part of this effort, we are initiating monthly virtual webinars that include presentations and discussions.

We are very pleased to invite you to the historic, first IAUC webinar 6 November that will celebrate our very own Luke Howard Award winners: Janet Barlow (2019 winner) and Alberto Martilli (2020 winner).

Date and time: 6 November 11:00 – 12:15 UTC, which is 6:00 New York (EST), 12:00 in Paris (CET), 16:30 in Dehli (IST), 19:00 in Beijing (CST), and 22:00 in Sydney (AEDT).

Theme: Celebrating IAUC’s Luke Howard award winners and discussion on ‘Observing and Modelling the Urban Boundary Layer’.

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by Andreas Christen

ICUC-11 postponed to August 2022

2020-10-05 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements, Meetings

In consultation with our members, the Board of the IAUC along with the local organizers has decided to postpone the 11th International Conference on Urban Climate (ICUC-11) for a year from August 2021 until August 2022 (August 29th – September 2nd, 2022). The ICUC Organizing Committee recently surveyed the urban climate community to ask how COVID-19 may impact their ability to submit an abstract, attend the conference at proposed dates, possible future postponement dates, and what their preferences are for face-to-face versus virtual components. Overall, 217 responses were received from 45 different countries with an overwhelming response that the conference should be postponed to 2022. The complete report of this survey can be found here.

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by Andreas Christen

Alberto Martilli receives 2020 Luke Howard Award

2020-09-25 in Awards, IAUC Statements, Members

The International Association for Urban Climate is delighted to announce Dr Alberto Martilli, at the Center for Research in Energy, Environment, and Technology (CIEMAT), Madrid, as the winner of the 2020 Luke Howard Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Urban Climatology.

Alberto Martilli from CIEMAT receives the 2020 Luke Howard Award

Combining a systematic and thorough approach with a deep knowledge of urban turbulence, Alberto has made significant, long-lasting and high-impact contributions to urban climatology. His work not only advances our fundamental understanding of interactions between the urban canopy and the atmosphere, but also has great relevance to a number of more applied topics including weather forecasting, air quality, thermal comfort and urban planning.

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by Andreas Christen

Scott Krayenhoff and Chao Ren receive 2020 Timothy Oke Award

2020-09-25 in Awards, IAUC Statements, Members

In this first year of the IAUC Timothy Oke Award for Original Research in the Field of Urban Climatology, the International Association for Urban Climate is delighted to announce that two awards will be made, to Dr Scott Krayenhoff, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Guelph, and Dr Chao Ren, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong. These two highly deserving early-to mid-career researchers both have outstanding publication records which demonstrate the quality, relevance and value of their research contributions.

Scott Krayenhoff, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Guelph

Since being awarded his PhD in 2015, Scott Krayenhoff has built upon his innovative work on modelling vegetation at micro- and local-scales to also consider climate change and sustainable urban design. He leads a research group at the University of Guelph and collaborates widely both with former colleagues and with new users and developers of his models. His combination of creativity, careful analytical skills and an excellent knowledge of the literature has resulted in several high-quality, high-impact, lasting contributions to urban climatology. He is well-known as an approachable and committed member of the IAUC community.

Chao Ren, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong

Chao Ren is an extremely successful mid-career researcher dedicating herself to cross-disciplinary research activities, engagements and design guideline development. She has already received numerous prizes and awards for her high-quality research which has an international impact and plays a key role in advising policy and planning, particularly in densely built sub-tropical cities. Her impressive publication record focuses on spatial variations in the urban thermal and wind environment and their health impacts and how these relate to urban morphology and built environment. She is a highly engaged researcher and member of the urban climate community and has served on many advisory boards including IAUC and WMO. She is an emerging leader in the field of urban climate, and several of her students have also been awarded for their research.

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by Andreas Christen

Passing of Professor Emeritus Baruch Givoni

2020-05-27 in IAUC Statements, Members

Professor Baruch Givoni

The Board of the IAUC is saddened to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Baruch Givoni, on the eve of his 100th birthday. Prof. Givoni was a pioneer in the understanding of urban and building climatology, and his prolific work over many decades included the landmark book “Man, Climate and Architecture” as well as the highly influential WMO publication “Urban Design In Different Climates“. Beyond the respect and admiration that he enjoyed around the world, Baruch was beloved by those who knew him as a modest and unassuming person. His generosity of spirit, his curiosity and his active pursuit of knowledge endured until his final days.

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by Andreas Christen

The Timothy Oke Award: a new IAUC award for early- and mid-career scientists

2020-04-11 in Awards, IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements

The IAUC is delighted to announce a new award to celebrate the achievements of early- and mid-career researchers. The ‘Timothy Oke Award for Original Research in the Field of Urban Climatology’ recognises the contributions of a new generation of urban climatologists and fills the gap between the IAUC’s numerous student awards and the IAUC’s highest accolade, the Luke Howard Award.

The Award is named in honour of Professor Timothy Oke, as recognition for his support of young urban climatologists and his unprecedented contributions to both urban climatology and the establishment of the IAUC.

The Timothy Oke Award addresses a critical phase in the career of an urban climate scientist, when they achieve individual visibility and impact, develop and broaden the scope of their research topics and demonstrate leadership. For the recipients, this award provides a prestigious endorsement of their research trajectory that may help to further advance their career prospects. The unanimous decision was made by the IAUC Board to name this award in honour of Professor Timothy Oke, as recognition of his outstanding research career, his support for young urban climatologists and his unprecedented contributions to both urban climatology and the establishment of the IAUC.

The IAUC is committed to promoting equality and diversity. As such, the guidelines for this award are that candidates should be approximately 3-12 years after PhD, but nominations for candidates who fall outside these guidelines due to career breaks or non-conventional career paths will also be considered, providing they are justified. All nominations will be assessed according to career stage. The Timothy Oke Award can be given for a particularly relevant study, a collection of papers or continuous work on a relevant topic with high impact on the field. It should be given for research that was conducted after the PhD. The award should reflect the diversity of the membership in terms of regions, gender, and disciplines. As the IAUC membership is currently dominated by those in early- and mid-career stages, it is envisaged that there could be many eligible recipients in the first few years. Therefore, the IAUC Awards Committee will select up to three awardees each year.

The IAUC award committee is pleased to call for nominations effective immediately.

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by Andreas Christen

Passing of Professor Arieh Bitan

2019-02-21 in IAUC Statements, Members

The IAUC is deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Professor Arieh Bitan in Israel on February 19, 2019.

“Professor Bitan was a wonderful gentleman and a distinguished member of the urban climate community.  Professor Bitan  was awarded the IAUC’s highest award, the 2006 Luke Howard Award, in recognition of his leading research into the climate of cities, the applied aspects of climate-sensitive urban and housing design, and his service to the urban climate community in Israel and internationally. He was also instrumental in the early development of the IGU Commission on Climatology. He will be sadly missed.” — IAUC Executive (Nigel Tapper, Andreas Christen, Ariane Middel) and Prof. Hadas Saaroni (Tel Aviv University).

A tribute will appear in the next Urban Climate Newsletter.

Professor Arieh Bitan

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by Andreas Christen

Call for Nominations for two IAUC Board members

2018-11-07 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements, Members

We are calling for nominations for two new members of the Board of the International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC) for the term 2019 – 2022. This is to replace Edward Ng (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) and Fei Chen (NCAR, USA) whose terms on the Board expire in 2018. We thank Edward Ng and Fei Chen for their commitment and contributions to IAUC while serving on the Board.

Please note that the Board is seeking new members eager to play an active role in the development of the society and who reflect the diversity of our membership. IAUC is committed to and promotes inclusive and equitable participation of a diverse community in its membership. Based on our diversity statement, we strongly encourage nomination of candidates who diversify the board in terms of fields of study, geographical location, gender, etc. We further encourage nominations from young scholars, including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

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