Dr Matthew Jones wins 2025 Philip Leverhulme Prize
By: Communications
An environmental scientist from UEA has been awarded a prestigious research prize for his internationally recognised work on wildfires and climate change.
Dr Matthew Jones from the School of Environmental Sciences is set to receive a 2025 Philip Leverhulme Prize for Geography.
The Leverhulme Trust awards the Philip Leverhulme Prizes to researchers whose work has already gained international recognition and whose future careers are judged to be exceptionally promising.
Dr Jones said: "I feel incredibly honoured to receive this award, and it is a real privilege to have my research recognised with such a prestigious prize. Personal awards like this never capture all of the mentorship and teamwork that underpin success in academia.
“The research recognised by this prize simply would not have been possible without a remarkable group of international collaborators and the inspiring, generous mentors who have supported me at every stage of my career.
“I am deeply grateful to all who have guided me, and I am truly honoured to work alongside so many brilliant minds from around the world as we tackle some of the biggest questions about the impacts of climate change on wildfires and their consequences for society and nature."
Chosen from more than 350 nominations across six categories, the prize awarded to Dr Jones is worth £100,000 and may be used to advance his research.
His work focuses on topics such as pyrogeography, extreme fires, earth system science, and climate change impacts, including mitigation and adaptation.
Prof Anna Vignoles, Director of the Leverhulme Trust, said: “We continue our centenary celebrations with the announcement of this year’s prize winners. The Trust is delighted to support them through the next stage of their careers. The breadth of topics covered by their research is impressive, from landscape archaeology to biomolecular mass spectrometry, applied microeconomics to adaptable wearable robotics, and pyrogeography to critical applied linguistics.
“Selecting the winners becomes increasingly challenging year-on-year due to the extraordinarily high calibre of those nominated. We are immensely grateful to the reviewers and panel members who help us in our decision-making.”
Dr Matthew Jones is the seventh UEA academic to receive a Philip Leverhulme Prize since the scheme began in 2001. Previous UEA recipients include:
2023 Biological Sciences
Dr Anders Bergström
2021 Earth Sciences
Dr Naomi Vaughan
2008 Medieval, Early Modern, And Modern History
Dr Paul Warde
2006 Basic Sciences
Dr Nathan P Gillett
2003 Geography
Professor Andrew Jordan
2002 Information and Communications Technology
Professor Graham Finlayson
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