Rate My Professor Mark New

Professor Mark New is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town, where he also serves as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Climate Change. He was previously Director of the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) from 2011 to 2023 and the first holder of ACDI’s AXA Research Chair in African Climate Risk from 2017 to 2021. He holds a joint appointment as Professor of International Development at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom and is Co-Director of the ARUA Centre of Excellence for Climate and Development. New’s academic background includes a BSc Hons in Geology from the University of Cape Town, an MPhil in Environment and Development from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Geography from the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on climate change detection, processes, scenarios, impacts and adaptation, including work on global and regional climate datasets, uncertainty in climate projections, climate risk and attribution, and adaptation in sectors such as water, health and fire, with a particular emphasis on Africa. He has been principal investigator on over twenty large research projects and has more than twenty-five years of experience in climate change research, teaching and project management.

New has received several awards, including the Mathieu Rouault Medal from the South African Society for Atmospheric Sciences, the Frontiers Planet Prize, and the Piers Sellers Prize for world-leading contributions to solution-focused climate research. He has been named in Apolitical’s list of the 100 most influential people in climate policy and is recognized as a leading African scientist on the Reuters “Hot List” of influential climate scientists. New serves on multiple science and policy bodies, including as an Executive Board Member for Environmental Research Letters, a member of the Science Review Group for the UK Met Office Hadley Centre, and on the Working Group on Event Attribution at the WCPP Global Extremes Platform. He also advises the SA National Biodiversity Institute’s Green Climate Fund project pipeline and has contributed to engaged research and transdisciplinary leadership scholarship.