The Degrees’ Board of Trustees has moved to a new stage. After over a decade of working with the organisation in its various iterations, a long-standing friend and Chair of the Degrees Board, Prof. John Shepherd has stepped down (read more about the history of Degrees). The staff and board are deeply grateful for his valuable contributions.
Oliver Morton—a Trustee since Degrees became an independent charity—has stepped up to take John’s place as Chair of the Board. Oliver is the Senior Editor for Essays, Briefings and Technology Quarterlies at The Economist, an author, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has covered solar radiation modification for almost two decades, including in his 2016 book The Planet Remade.
Degrees is also pleased to announce two additions to its Board of Trustees, Pauliina Murphy and Mohammed Mofizur Rahman. Pauliina is the Engagement & Communications Director of the World Benchmarking Alliance and was one of three mentors when the Degrees Initiative was selected as a scale-up initiative by the Paris Peace Forum. She brings years of experience in international sustainable development policy and finance.
Mohammed Mofizur Rahman is a Bangladeshi environmental scientist and an educator. He first engaged with Degrees as a researcher on the 2018 Bangladesh Degrees Modelling Fund team. Since then, Mofiz has moved on to work as a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. We are particularly pleased to now have a former Degrees-funded scientist join our board.
These additions join the established members, which include the Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development and renowned climate adviser Prof. Saleemul Huq, Executive Director of the Network of African Science Academies Jackie Kado, and international organisational development consultant Mark Hilton.
We thank John for his dedication and commitment since the very early days of the initiative. The Degrees Initiative was born in 2010 as the SRM Governance Initiative, in response to the Royal Society’s seminal Geoengineering the Climate report, whose committee of authors John chaired. The work that followed would not have been possible without John’s dedication and exceptional leadership. You can learn more about his legacy at Degrees in an upcoming interview.