The professorship at the University of Waterloo in Ontario attracts top international researchers on the environment to give public lectures, teach classes and meet with professors and students.

Professor Murray, who is this year's University of Waterloo TD Canada Trust/Walter Bean Visiting Professor in the Environment, will speak at the University on Wednesday, May 21, on the topic of Warming Climate, Melting Ice: What is our future?

Earth's glaciers and ice sheets are retreating far more rapidly than scientists had previously predicted, leading experts to question what consequences are on the horizon. 

Professor Murray was recently awarded £850,000 by the Leverhulme Trust Leadership Fund to lead a nine-strong team of international researchers working on a five-year project to research the future stability of the Greenland ice sheet. 

The project is know as GLIMPSE, or Greenland Ice Margin Prediction, Stability and Evolution, and its key outcome will be better predictions of the future of the ice sheet, and therefore the rate of future sea level rise.

Professor Murray, who was awarded the Polar Medal in 2007 by The Queen, will share her findings and experiences of working in the Arctic and Antarctic regions during the lecture.

And she will return to the University of Waterloo in the autumn to lecture and conduct further research.

Speaking ahead of her visit, Professor Murray, who leads the Glaciology Research Group in the School of the Environment and Society at Swansea, said: "I feel very honoured to have been asked to be the 2008 TD Canada Trust/Walter Bean Visiting Professor in the Environment.

"I am very excited to be going to Waterloo to give this lecture. It is a top university in the environmental field, and I look forward to discussing our work with students, faculty and members of the public."

"Professor Murray's visit is especially timely given the recent headlines announcing the break in Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf," said Terry McMahon, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Waterloo.

"Her research on the effects of climate change is critically relevant to the future sustainability of our Arctic regions. The Faculty of Science is privileged to welcome Professor Murray to the University."

Research findings on climate warming and melting glaciers from Professor Murray and Swansea Glaciology colleague Dr Ian Rutt and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey, has also been featured in the May issue of Physics World magazine.

For more information on the feature, entitled 'The heat is on', visit the Physics World website.

Related links:
The University of Waterloo
GLIMPSE project
Swansea University School of the Environment and Society
British Antarctic Survey