Professor Chris Turney

Biography

Working closely with staff, students, alumni and other partners he supports the University achieve breakthrough research that tackles real world challenges - including transforming climate action, revolutionising health outcomes, and pioneering robotics and other technologies that will shape our future.

Chris is an internationally acclaimed British-Australian climate and Earth scientist, entrepreneur, and optimist. With 30 years' experience in the global higher education sector, he champions universities as drivers of positive meaningful societal change, and is passionate about advancing the transition to a global circular and sustainable economy. Chris believes leadership means cultivating diverse communities where the intersection of disciplines, cultures, genders, and life experiences create the fertile ground for innovation to thrive, enabling research that benefits society at speed and scale. He has held numerous prestigious fellowships and academic positions around the world – including an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship – at the University of New South Wales (Sydney), the University of Exeter, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Holloway, University of London, the University of Technology Sydney, and the Australian National University.

A prolific researcher working from the tropics to the poles, Professor Turney has authored more than 250 scientific papers (including 14 in Nature and Science), five books, and has supervised over 25 postgraduate students. He combines academic excellence with entrepreneurial vision as a Founding Director and inventor of CarbonScape, a cleantech company that has developed technology to convert plant material into low cost, high performance, sustainable, locally produced biographite for lithium-ion batteries. Professor Turney's leadership experience includes previous roles as a Non-Executive Director of Cicada Innovations, Australia's leading deep tech incubator, and the New South Wales Government's Environment Protection Authority (the NSW EPA).

Described as the "new David Livingstone" by The Saturday Times and compared to Malcolm Gladwell by Publishers Weekly, Chris is dedicated to communicating the value of research to the public. He contributes regularly to major media outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, and the BBC. Chris recently hosted the podcast series "Unf*cking the Future" with Imagine Entertainment, where he meets with innovators, inventors, and other rebel problem solvers around the world to share actionable solutions to the climate crisis.

Chris is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Royal Society of New South Wales, the Royal Meteorological Society, the Geological Society of London, Advance HE, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.