Our people

Professor Andrew Baird has been appointed as a new chair in wetland science in the School of Geography, and joins us from Queen Mary, University of London. His areas of expertise include water flow and heat transfer in soils, carbon balance processes in peatlands, and ‘growing’ peat bogs inside computers. He is currently researching the role of peatlands in climate change, which function as vast sinks and sources of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. In 2007, Professor Baird appeared on the BBC1 documentary Climate change: Britain under threat, both in front of the camera and editing the script for voiceover by David Attenborough. In his spare time, he is exploring new means of communicating science through online films and animations.

Professor David Buckley has been appointed as a new chair in medical physics in Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics (LIGHT). He was previously a senior lecturer in imaging science and biomedical engineering at the University of Manchester. Professor Buckley has a strong reputation in oncology and renal medicine, and his main research interest is in quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). His work ranges from measuring brain slices to learn more about strokes, to monitoring tissue changes in patients following radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer. Professor Buckley was an adviser to the Medical Research Council/NHS-funded UK multi-centre trial screening of women at genetic risk of breast cancer, which took place from 1997 to 2002.