Chris Turney

Christian S. M. Turney is an English-born earth and climate scientist. he is deputy principal research and impact at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. His previous roles include pro vice-chancellor for research at the University of Technology Sydney and professor of climate change and earth science and director of the Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre and the Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility at the University of New South Wales.

Early life and education Christian S. M. Turney was educated at St Bede's School in Redhill, Surrey, England.

He graduated from the University of East Anglia with a BSc in environmental science, On the return home Turney's ice-strengthened vessel became trapped by a substantial breakout of sea ice. After two other vessels were unable to reach the stricken ship, the expedition members were eventually airlifted by helicopter to the Chinese polar research vessel Xue Long, while the Russian crew members had to stay on board the ship. Environmental writer Andrew Revkin criticised the scientists on board Akademik Shokalskiy; however, Professor Michael Robinson of University of Hartford noted that the expedition aimed to use Mawson's observations as a baseline for their own scientific findings "that [would] illuminate Antarctica's future, not its past. As such, the voyage [would] prove to be well worth the time and effort". Turney's book on the expedition's discoveries and the team's experiences trapped by sea ice was published under two titles: Iced In: Ten Days Trapped on the Edge of Antarctica in Australia and New Zealand, and also as Shackled, by Penguin.

Turney was a professor at the University of New South Wales in 2013. He was later professor of climate change and earth science and director of the Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre and the Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility at the University of New South Wales.

In November 2021, University of Technology Sydney announced that Turney was joining their university in January 2022 as their new pro-vice-chancellor for research.

On 23 April 2025, Turney was announced as deputy principal research and impact at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the role, he leads the development and growth of Heriot-Watt's Global Research Institutes and continue the advancement of the Research Futures Hub.

Other activities and roles

Turney was a founding director and later scientific advisor to New Zealand cleantech company CarbonScape, which has developed patented technology to produce and engineer carbon-negative graphite from sustainably-sourced biomass to be used in lithium-ion batteries.

Turney was a non-executive director to Cicada, an Australian incubator for startups and scaleups working on deeptech innovations. He was also a non-executive director to the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority.

Publications Turney has published hundreds of research papers, in addition to at least one textbook and four books, 2014: Frederick White Prize, Australian Academy of Science, for contributions to understanding natural phenomena that impact human lives