Gabriele Hegerl

Prof. Gabriele Hegerl is a leading climate scientist at the University of Edinburgh, recognized for pioneering work in detecting and attributing human-induced climate change. She has contributed significantly to understanding how external factors like greenhouse gases and volcanic activity influence global climate patterns, bridging observational data with climate models. Her research emphasizes global-scale climate analysis, regional precipitation changes, and extreme weather event attribution. Hegerl has held leadership roles in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), advocating for evidence-based climate policy. She is a recipient of the 2016 Hans Sigrist Prize for her work in 'The Human Fingerprint on the Earth System.'

Her career began after a mathematics PhD, transitioning to climate research at the Max Planck Institute. She focuses on disentangling natural climate variability from human-driven changes, analyzing historical climate data (e.g., tree rings, historical records) to understand past fluctuations and improve future projections. Current interests include studying 20th-century warming causes, extreme weather events, and leveraging digitized historical records for climate insights.

Hegerl emphasizes the need for long-term climate policy planning, addressing political skepticism, and fostering academic flexibility for dual-career academics. She has navigated challenges as a trailing academic spouse and advocates for women in STEM, encouraging persistence despite gender biases. Her ERC Advanced Grant supports her research, and the Hans Sigrist Prize funding will extend projects on climate extremes and model validation.