Professor David J Beerling FRS FLSW

School of Biosciences

Sorby Professor of Natural Sciences

Research Centre Manager: Victoria Giordano-Bibby

Email: v.giordano-bibby@sheffield.ac.uk

Personal Assistant: Debbie Hill

Email: d.hill@sheffield.ac.uk

Beerling, David J, Professor
Profile picture of Beerling, David J, Professor
Profile
  • 2022 Honorary Doctorate, University of Cardiff
  • 2022 Elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales
  • 2021-present PI, UK via Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) Greenhouse Gas Removal Demonstrator, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield
  • 2016-present Director, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M), School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield
  • 2014 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
  • 2009–2014 Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award holder
  • 2002 Appointed to a Personal Chair, University of Sheffield
  • 2008–2009 Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar (Yale University)
  • 2001–2003 Philip Leverhulme Prize holder
  • 1994–2002 Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Sheffield
  • 1990–1993 Postdoctoral research associate (×2, NERC, EU)
  • 1990 PhD (botany), University of Wales, College of Cardiff
  • 1987 Honours Botany, University of Wales, College of Cardiff
Research interests

I am the founder and Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, a premier international Centre for carbon dioxide removal, funded through a Leverhulme Research Centre award in 2015 (£10 million) from the Leverhulme Trust. We focus on the biogeochemical improvement of agricultural lands with natural and artificial silicates. A notable early achievement has been our establishment of a network of long-term field sites across three continents assessing carbon capture with diverse agricultural ecosystems and possible co-benefits for soil health and yields, alongside engagement with the public, NGOs and stakeholders.

Basalt Application Illinois
Image credit Jordan Goebig-ISEE
Publications

Journal articles

Research group

Graduate Students

Research Staff

Technical Support

Teaching activities

My research interests are generally reflected in my undergraduate graduate teaching through the following level 3 and level 4 modules:

  • Co-ordinator and lecturer on Level 3 Module APS313 Global Change
  • Co-ordinator and lecturer on Level 4 Module APS407 Research and Study Skills in Biology

Level 3 and 4 undergraduate Research Projects in my lab have investigated plants responses to past, present and future atmospheric CO2 concentrations and CO2 effects on functional aspects of early land plant partnerships with mycorrhizal fungi.

Professional activities and memberships
  • 2019–present Council Member, Royal Society, London
  • 2018-present Editor-in-Chief, Biology Letters (Royal Society)
  • 2017–2019 Chair, Sectional Committee 5 (Earth and Environment), Royal Society, London
  • 2016–2018 Member, Sectional Committee 5 (Earth and Environment), Royal Society, London
  • 2017-2018 Member, Greenhouse Gas Removal Technologies Work Group, Royal Society-Royal Academy of Engineering
  • 2017 Member, Steering Committee, Royal Society and National Academy of Sciences Sackler Forum
  • 2016-2018 Royal Society Newton International Fellowship Board (Reappointed)
  • 2013-2015 Royal Society Newton International Fellowship Board (Biological Sciences)
  • 2011-2012 Series Consultant, BBC2 Television, How to Grow a Planet.
  • 2009-2012 Board of Advisors, Annals of Botany Plants (Oxford University Press)
  • 2007-2011 Scientific Steering Committee, NERC/WUN Weathering Science Consortium
  • 2008-2010 ARC-NZ Network for Vegetation Function, Working Group 50: Stomata and Climate Change
  • 2000-2003 NERC, Atmospheric Sciences Peer Review Committee
  • 2014 Editorial Board, Royal Society Open Science
  • 2013 Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology (FESPB) Scientific Programme Committee
  • 2012 Advisory Group, Society of Experimental Biology
  • 2011 Origins of C4 grasslands Working Group, National Evolutionary Synthesis Centre (Durham, NC)
  • 2011 Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Working Group: Climate Sensitivity
  • 2010 NASA/GISS (New York) Working Group: Climate sensitivity in the Anthropocene