Loading AI tools
German geologist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen (born 1942) is an Emeritus Reader in the Department of Geography at the University of Hull in Kingston upon Hull England, where she taught environmental policy, management and politics.[1][2][3][4] She was editor of the journal Energy & Environment from 1998 to 2017.[5][6]
Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen | |
---|---|
Born | 1942 (age 81–82) Dresden, Germany |
Nationality | German |
Citizenship | German, Australian, British |
Alma mater | University of Adelaide, University of Sussex |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Environmental Policy, Geography |
Institutions | University of Sussex, University of Hull |
Thesis | Limits to the international control of marine pollution (1981) |
Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen was born in Dresden, East Germany.[2][5] In 1956, she moved to Adelaide, South Australia, where she obtained a BA with Honours in Geomorphology from the University of Adelaide while also studying climatology, geology, physical geography and German literature.[5][7][8][9] She moved again to England in 1969 and later attended the University of Sussex where she first obtained an MA followed by a DPhil in International Relations in 1981.[2][7][10] Her doctoral thesis was titled, Limits to the international control of marine pollution.[11]
Boehmer-Christiansen joined the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex in 1985, working for a decade as a Research Fellow and then later as a visiting fellow.[2][8][12] Since the mid-1990s she had taught environmental policy, management and politics in the Geography Department at the University of Hull.[3][9] As an Emeritus Reader she still works from the University of Hull's Geography Department.[1][8]
She is a past member of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future.[2][13]
When asked about the publication in the Spring of 2003 of a revised version of the paper at the center of the Soon and Baliunas controversy, Boehmer-Christiansen said, "I'm following my political agenda -- a bit, anyway. But isn't that the right of the editor?"[14]
Boehmer-Christiansen has been a critic of climate models saying they are based on data that cannot be verified.[15] In 2006, she signed an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging him to open the Kyoto Protocol to debate by holding balanced, comprehensive public-consultation sessions on the Canadian government's climate change plans.[16]
She describes herself as agnostic on whether humans are causing global warming, and believes its negative aspects to be politically exaggerated.[17]
According to Fred Pearce, Boehmer-Christiansen is a sceptic about acid rain and global warming and calls the science reports produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "political constructs."[18]
The Guardian reported that Boehmer-Christiansen published – against the recommendations of a reviewer – a paper in Energy & Environment claiming that the Sun is made of iron.[19][20]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.