• • Our speaker for the Seventh Annual Distinguished Morley Seminar was Professor Gwyneth Stallard, OBE, Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University. The Seminar was held on Wednesday 23rd October 2019.
  • 

Title: The beauty of fractals

Abstract: In this talk we discuss the fascinating structure of geometrical objects known as fractals, beginning with classic fractal sets such as Cantor sets and the von Koch snowflake.  We will then explore fractals which arise as Julia sets in the subject of complex dynamics.  These are sets on which the iterates of a function behave chaotically and they have structures such as a Cantor bouquet and an infinite spider’s web.  Major advances in complex dynamics have often come from applications of powerful techniques in topology and complex analysis, and have also led to new results in complex analysis with wider applications.

Gwyneth Stallard, OBE, Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University

Gwyneth read mathematics at King’s College, Cambridge finishing in 1985 and earned her PhD from Imperial College London in 1991. When Gwyneth became a Professor of Mathematics at the Open University, she became the first woman to be a professor in the department. Her research is in the area of complex dynamics and concerns the iteration of transcendental meromorphic functions; she is particularly interested in the possible dimensions of the Julia set and in the structure of the escaping set. She was awarded the Whitehead Prize in 2000.

Gwyneth has a long standing interest in the issues surrounding women’s careers in mathematics and chaired the London Mathematical Society’s Women in Mathematics Committee from 2006 to 2015. This work was recognized by the award of an OBE in 2015. In 2016, she was honoured as part of the Suffrage Science Scheme and was among 12 women receiving awards to celebrate their scientific achievements in maths and computing, and their ability to inspire others.

• Professor Jonathan Gregory receives BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
• The impact of moist processes on weather forecasts, 5th OpenIFS User Meeting, University of Reading, 17-21 June 2019 (in collaboration with ECMWF)
• Professor Paul Williams runner up in NERC Societal Impact Award for work on in-flight turbulence following stiff competition from research on microplastics
• Watch University public lecture by Ed Hawkins: Climate change: past, present & future

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IN THE NEWS

2019

• Earliest UK weather records could hold key to predicting future climate
• A century and half of reconstructed ocean warming offers clues for the future

2018

• • Mysterious giant dust particles found at gravity-defying distances
  • COP24: UN talks have an opportunity to align rules with their long-term temperature goal
  • Wet season changes under future climate change could harm ‘vulnerable’ Africa (see schematic)

• • Scientists from the department attend the UN COP24 climate meeting in Katowice, Poland
  • Professor Paul Williams contributes to UN-style climate negotiations for school students
  • Vulnerability to heat unacceptably high and rising – new Lancet report featuring Professor Nigel Arnell
  • AURORAS UNLOCK THE PHYSICS OF ENERGETIC PROCESSES IN SPACE
  • Weather forecasts from outer space could help keep Earth safe
  • Professor Ed Hawkins awarded Royal Society Kavli Medal for his contributions to understanding and communicating climate science

• Research Engagement and Impact Awards for Professor Paul Williams and also Professor Ed Hawkins and Stephen Burt
• Red sky in sight shows charging at height
• Professor Graeme Stephens elected FRS – and RMetS awards to Meteorology staff announced
• Atlantic circulation ‘slowdown’ study hints at future climate disruption
• Six Meteorology scientists named as lead authors in upcoming IPCC climate change assessment
• More sting jet storms likely due to global warming
• TAMSAT rainfall data helping over a million farmers weather drought in Zambia
• Limiting global temperature rise to 1.5^oC would avoid 60-95% of climate change impacts

2017

• Study discovers why global warming will accelerate as CO₂ levels rise
• Outlook Fine For Summer Seasonal Weather Forecasts
• A new effort aims to recover meteorology data collected by a group of hardy Victorian Scottish scientists

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Our Changing Climate: Past, Present and Future – Public Lecture by Professor Ed Hawkins in the Palmer Building, Wednesday 17th October (View lecture)