Professor Folland was made an Honorary Professor in June 2003.

Chris is a part-time Research Fellow in the Seasonal to Decadal Forecasting Group of the Met Office Hadley Centre. He was formerly Head of the Hadley Centre's Climate Variability and Forecasting Group, a position held with minor changes from 1990-2008. Chris now carries out research work on climate variability and seasonal to interannual forecasting. From the mid 1980s, he developed strong relationships with the Climatic Research Unit as part of his research on observed climate change and data set development. Chris is Co-Chair of the CLIVAR International Climate of the Twentieth Century project which he set up in the 1990s. He is now also an Adjunct Professor at the University of South Queensland, Australia.

Professor Folland joined the Met Office in 1968 after two years in oceanography. He spent five years in operational instrumentation before spending two years in synoptic climatology and climate change. Four years as a team leader doing hydrometeorological research and commercial climate work gave him useful insights into the workings of the Met Office and its customers. He rejoined the Synoptic Climatology Branch in 1980 with a brief to carry out research into monthly forecasting for UK, climate change and data set development. A year seconded to the Climate Analysis Centre (now NCEP) in the USA in 1989-90 gave him an array of international scientific contacts. He joined the Hadley Centre in 1990 as an individual merit scientist and group Head. Chris has spent much time as Convening Lead Author, Lead Author or contributor and reviewer of all the Science Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including the 1992 Supplementary Report. He has also been involved with a number of WMO committees on subjects varying from instruments to changes in climate extremes.

In 2011 Chris became a Guest Professor at Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and is now partly supported by Gothenburg University.

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