Climate change expert awarded top Euro medal
University of Waikato climate change expert awarded top European accolade for environmental work
A renowned University of Waikato expert on environmental plant stress resulting from climate change has been awarded the
prestigious European Society for Photobiology (ESP) Medal for her outstanding contribution to the field and to the
society.
Professor Janet Bornman, director of the University's International Global Change Institute, has an international
reputation in the field of environmental photobiology – the scientific study of the interactions of light and living
organisms.
Her main research focus has been on the effects of ultraviolet radiation and the interactive effects of other climate
change factors.
Professor Bornman, who joined the University of Waikato last year from the Danish Institute of Agricultural Science and
was previously at Lund University in Sweden, co-chairs the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel of the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP).
The panel reports to UNEP on a diverse range of subjects, including the atmosphere, human health, land and water
ecosystems, biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and other components in soil and waterways, and air quality and
materials, with an emphasis on the complex interactions of climate change factors.
She recently returned from Canada where she represented the panel at the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Montreal
Protocol, dubbed the most successful of all time and responsible for a 95 percent success rate in phasing out
ozone-depleting chemicals.
Professor Bornman has served as president of the European Society for Photobiology, and editor-in-chief of the
international journal, 'Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences'. The journal publishes articles on both plants and
animals, with a large part devoted to medical environmentally related issues such as skin cancer, photodynamic therapy
and skin ageing.
She was previously the Swedish national representative for the Association Internationale de Photobiologie (AIP) and
most recently was invited to be New Zealand's national representative for the Asia and Oceania Society of Photobiology.
In 2004, she was the recipient of the Edna Roe Lecturer award by the International Union of Photobiology for
accomplishments in the photosciences.
ENDS