Professor Luke Skinner

Professor Luke Skinner is a University Lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences and a College Lecturer in Natural Sciences (Physical) at Magdalene.

Professor Luke Skinner is a Reader in Earth System Science in the Department of Earth Sciences. He teaches Part 1A, Part II, and Part III climate science options and is also a Director of Studies and Tutor for Graduate Admissions at Magdalene College.

His research focuses on climate change through the lens of the past, aiming to provide a ‘long view’ of the environmental processes that regulate global and regional climates on timescales relevant to human experience (decades to millennia). His work is primarily concerned with the interconnected processes that regulate the planet’s carbon cycle and energy budget, with a particular focus on the ocean. The ocean is the main repository for carbon and heat at the Earth’s surface, containing 60 times more carbon than the atmosphere, with the top metre of water holding as much energy as the entire atmosphere.

It can be said that nothing happens to atmospheric CO2 or global temperature without the ocean ‘knowing about it’ and playing a role in their regulation. As such, the ocean will play a key role in the anthropogenic climate changes that humanity will face in the future. However, the sensitivity and natural variability of the processes governing this role remain a significant uncertainty for future projections, which Professor Skinner's research seeks to address.