Church, John Alexander (1951 - )

Summary

John Church is a world authority on the rate of sea-level rise. He has led research into observations and modelling of earth and ocean systems including work on the major ocean currents surrounding Australia. During over 30 years at CSIRO he built a world-leading sea level research group. Church led major international ocean research programs and was convening lead co-author on chapters on sea level in the 3rd (2001) and 5th (2014-2018) reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He was also a member of Working Group 1 for the 4th report (2007). In 2017 he was appointed Professor at the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre.

Details

In 2006 Church was awarded the CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement for his world-recognised research leading to significant improvement in understanding the rate of sea level rise, both its global average and the regional distribution, which has led him to become the Chair of the Joint Scientific Committee of the Geneva-based World Climate ResearchProgramme (WCRP).

Chronology

1972

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Queensland

1979

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Queensland

1984 - 1993

Career position - Research Scientist (later Senior Research Scientist and Principal Research Scientist) CSIRO Division of Oceanography

1987 - ?

Career position - Principal Investigator, NASA/CNES TOPEX/POSEIDON and Jason Satellite Altimeter Missions

1989 - 1993

Career position - Member, World Ocean Circulation Experiment Core 1Working Group

1990 - 1996

Career position - Co-Investigator, NASA/EOS Interdisciplinary Investigation

1990 - 1997

Career position - Leader, Climate Program, CSIRO Division of Oceanography

1991 - 1997

Career position - Leader, Southern Ocean Processes and Polar Water Programs, CRC for the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Environments

1993 - 2003

Career position - Program Leader, Oceanography Program, Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions

1994 - ?

Career position - Co-Principal Investigator, ESA ERS-1/2 Satellite Mission

1994

Career position - Scientific Advisor, Environmental Strategies Directorate, Commonwealth Department of Environment, Sport and Territories

1994 - 1998

Career position - Co-Chair, Scientific Steering Group, World Ocean Circulation Experiment

1994 - 1998

Career position - Member, CLIVAR Scientific Steering Group

1997

Career position - Visiting Research Scientist, James Rennell Division, Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

1997 - 2003

Career position - Leader, Southern Ocean Processes and Polar Water Programs, CRC for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

1998 - 2001

Career position - Co-Convening Lead Author for chapter of Sea Level in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Third Assessment Report

1999 - 2006

Career position - Member, Scientific Committee, World Climate Research Programme

2003 - 2004

Career position - Deputy Chief, CSIRO Marine Research

2003 - 2005

Career position - Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Marine Research

2004 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society

2004

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

2004 - 2006

Career position - Vice-Chair, Scientific Committee, World Climate Research Programme

2005 -

Career position - Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, International Oceanographic Commission

2005 - 2016

Career position - Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research

2006

Award - Roger Revelle Medal, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

2006

Award - CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement

2006 - 2008

Career position - Joint Chair, Scientific Committee, World Climate Research Programme

2007

Award - Nobel Peace Prize (jointly as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC))

2007

Award - Eureka Prize for Scientific Research, Australian Museum

2008

Award - R.H. Clarke Lecturer, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society

2009 -

Career position - Founding Member, Tasmanian Climate Action Council

2010

Award - CSIRO Fellow

2012

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

2016

Award - Morton Medal, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society

2017 -

Career position - Professor, Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales

2019

Award - Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change (joint), BBVA Foundation

2020 -

Award - Fellow, American Geophysical Union

2021

Award - Jaeger Medal, Australian Academy of Science

2022

Award - James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

2022

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - for distinguished service to climate science through oceanographic and sea-level research and publications

2023

Award - Fellow, International Science Council

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• McDougall, Trevor J., Church, John A. and Zillman, John, 'Angus McEwan 1937 - 2018', Historical Records of Australian Science, 36 (2024), 1-7, https://www.publish.csiro.au/HR/pdf/HR24005. Details
• McDougall, Trevor; Church, John; and Zillman, John, 'Vale Dr Angus McEwan FAA FTSE', Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, Supplement (2018), 8, https://view.joomag.com/bamos-vol-31-special-issue-october-2018-bulletin-vol-31-special-issue-01-2018/0218810001540846020?short. Details

Resources

• 'John Church - Citation at year of election, 2012', The Academy's Fellows [including profiles and other relevant links], Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 2019, https://www.science.org.au/profile/john-church. Details
• Jaeger Medal, Australian Academy of Science, 2025, https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/jaeger-medal. Details
• 'Dr John Church - Biography at time of election', Fellows of the Academy, 2024, https://www.atse.org.au/who-we-are/our-fellows/all-fellows/john-church/. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Professor John Alexander Church, Officer of the Order of Australia', in It's an Honour, Australian Honours and Awards Secretariat, Australian Government, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2022, https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2010271. Details
• 'The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 was awarded jointly to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. 'for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change'', in The Nobel Prize, Nobel Media, Nobel Prize Outreach 2025, Stockholm, Sweden, 2025, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/. Details

See also

• Who's who in Australia 2012 (Melbourne: Crown Content Pty Ltd, 2012), 2430 pp. Details
• Ward, Colin, 'CSIRO Entrepreneurship Award', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2013, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/csiro-entrepreneurship-award/. Details