In 2008 Raymond and Beverly Sackler established the USA-UK Scientific Forum to help the scientific leadership of the United Kingdom and the United States forge an enduring partnership on topics of worldwide scientific concern with benefit to all people. By establishing the forum, the Sacklers have made it possible to examine forces that are creating our collective future.
This third forum, which was entitled Integrated Assessment Models and the Future Needs of Climate Change Research, took place on 19 – 20 September 2012 at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre in Buckinghamshire, UK. Previous forums examined the worldwide food supply, and neuroscience and the law.
The forum was organized by a high-level steering group of distinguished researchers:
- Robert Dickinson (University of Texas)
- Inez Fung (University of California, Berkeley)
- Chris Hope (University of Cambridge)
- Brian Hoskins (Imperial College, London)
- Tim Palmer (University of Oxford)
- Ronald Prinn (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- Keith Shine (University of Reading)
The forum brought together a distinguished group of speakers and participants, resulting in a vigorous and eye-opening discussion. Participants included experts who take very different approaches to computer modeling of natural and human systems. Some work purely on natural systems. Others develop models involving economics, technology, agriculture, and other human systems. Each group had much to learn, and much to say, about the others’ activities.
The meeting was a great success. It helped to forge partnerships not only between US and UK researchers but also between distinct modeling communities and led to many recommendations for future action and collaboration.