Professor David Stephenson has been actively involved in climate research since 1989 and has worked at several world-renowned institutions that include the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at the University of Princeton (1989-91), the French National Weather Service Meteo-France (1992-1998). From 1999-2007, he was Reader (Associate Professor) in Statistical Climatology in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading. He was honoured to be an Adjunct Professor at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen in Norway (2004-2008).

His research is targeted on the development and application of advanced statistical methodologies that provide deeper understanding of climate variations and improve the quality of weather and climate forecasts. His main areas of research are in climate modes and regimes, extreme weather and climate events, and forecast calibration and verification. In all three of these areas, he has contributed new ideas and approaches that are now enabling fellow climate scientists and meteorologists to develop deeper insight into the climate system. His active involvement in climate research has led to many scientific publications: more than 100 papers in high-quality, refereed journals, and a well-cited book on forecast verification published by Wiley and Sons. These internationally-recognised publications are cited by an ever-growing number of articles in the literature (more than 250 citations/year). One of the unique strengths of his research is the interdisciplinary collaboration with statisticians, which he has enthusiastically initiated and developed since 1995.

National and international recognition of his knowledge and expertise in the application of statistical methods has led to him being invited to serve on various editorial and expert teams. For example, he served from 2003-2009 as Editor for the Journal of Climate – the leading journal in climate research published by the American Meteorological Society. He is currently an Associate Editor for J. of Climate and the Brazilian Journal of Meteorology. Since 2009, he has served as an expert member on the World Meteorological Organisation’s Joint Working Group on Forecast Verification.

Since 1998 he has initiated and developed successful working collaborations with catastrophe modellers in the global reinsurance industry. In 2006, he was a key founding member of the Willis Research Network, which is now the world’s largest partnership between academia and the insurance industry.