Prof. Heiko Pälike

Biography

Prof. Pälike is Professor of Paleoceanography at the Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM). His research combines a fundamental mathematical understanding of orbital mechanics and its application to forcing of climate. Since early in his career, he has combined this approach with the active design of drilling expeditions to gather and interpret marine geological data in a paleoclimatic context. Previously, he was a Professor in the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton. Prof. Pälike has also taken up high-level responsibilities in the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) scientific strategy by co-chairing the Science Evaluation Panel, contributing to the JOIDES Resolution Facility Board, promoting the high-level scientific aims of ocean drilling through his deep involvement in the IODP New Ventures in Exploring Scientific Targets (INVEST) Renewal Meeting, and co-designing the current science plan for IODP for 2013– 2023. Prof. Pälike is a recipient of the Taira Prize, which honours his outstanding transdisciplinary contributions to the problem of Earth climate system reconstructions and the extraction of astronomical parameters from geological data.