Julia Slingo

Early life and education Julia Mary Walker was born on 13 December 1950 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. She was educated at the King's High School for Girls, an all-girls private school in Warwick. She studied physics at the University of Bristol and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973.

In 1988, she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at the same university.

Career and research Following her degree she joined the Met Office, where she became a Senior Scientist in the dynamical meteorology section. Her research focussed on clouds and their interactions with the rest of the atmosphere, and she pioneered new ways to represent clouds in weather forecast and climate models. In February 2014, she said that climate change is likely to be a factor in the storms and floods Britain had been experiencing for several months.

Her research has been funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Honours and awards Slingo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008 for services to environmental and climate science. She was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to weather and climate science.

Slingo was awarded the Buchan Prize of the Royal Meteorological Society in 1998. She was awarded honorary degrees of doctor of science by the University of Bristol in 2010, In 2022 she was honoured again by Bristol University, winning their Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In 2014, Slingo was named one of the 100 leading UK practising scientists by the Science Council. She was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015. The same year she was awarded the International Meteorological Organization Prize from the World Meteorological Organization. Slingo was elected a member of the US National Academy of Engineering in 2016 "For contributions to modelling of the Earth's climate system and for leadership in the weather and climate community".

Slingo was the first female Professor of Meteorology in the UK. In 2008, she became the first woman President of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Personal life Slingo married Anthony Slingo in 1978. They had two daughters.