56 | New Scientist | 15 June 2019
The back pages Me and my telescope
Climate scientist David Reay studies how
to reduce global carbon emissions. He is also
working to make his entire life carbon neutral
on a farm in western ScotlandFirst up, do you have a telescope?
No, but I do love the stars. On our small farm
in deepest, darkest Kintyre, the beauty of the
night sky can take your breath away.As a child, what did you
want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to be David Attenborough. To see the
natural world, explore jungles and dive
the oceans.Explain what you do
in one easy paragraph.
I work on climate change. I study how we can
cut carbon emissions as fast as possible,
especially those from food production
and land use.What do you love most
about what you do?
Teaching. Our students are some of the most
brilliant and passionate people you’ll ever meet.
Working with them on tackling climate change
is a privilege I treasure every day.Sum up your life in a one-sentence
elevator pitch...
A climate change scientist who walks his
talk – I am trying to balance my lifetime
carbon debt before I die.What’s the most exciting thing
you’re working on right now?
I’ve become a novice “carbon farmer”.
Last year, we bought a small sheep farm on
the west coast of Scotland and are now busy
mapping every tree, bush and soggy field
corner. The focus will then be on enhancing
species diversity, planting native trees and
boosting soil carbon in order to pull a
lifetime’s worth of emissions out of
the atmosphere.Were you good at science at school?
Yes, especially biology. The wonder of how life on
Earth functions and evolves has never left me.If you could send a message back to
yourself as a kid, what would you say?
It’ll be OK.What’s the best piece of
advice anyone ever gave you?
Effort never betrays you.If you could have a long conversation
with any scientist, living or dead, who
would it be?
Charles David Keeling. In the 1950s,
Keeling was responsible for starting the first
continuous measurements of carbon dioxide
in our atmosphere. Today, the Keeling curve
is still plotting our collective failure to tackle
climate change, and when we finally turn the
corner, it will be the Keeling curve that tells
us we can open the champagne.What’s the best thing you’ve read or seen
in the past 12 months?
The “Net Zero” report from the UK’s Committee
on Climate Change. It will change all our lives,
and for a carbon geek like me, it’s simply brilliant.Do you have an unusual hobby, and
if so, please will you tell us about it?
I keep chickens and I grow veg, which ends up
as a weird-looking hobby. The chickens destroy
everything, so I’ve had to build cages around
my small veg plots. Most weekends, I’m
crouched in the cages tending plants, while the
chickens run round the outside trying to get in.
It’s like being trapped in a game of Pac-Man.How useful will your skills
be after the apocalypse?
Not bad. I grow plants, bake bread and
brew beer quite well. I’m guessing we’ll
need a lot of beer.OK, one last thing: tell us something
that will blow our minds...
In the time it takes to read this article,
humankind will have emitted another
190,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into
our atmosphere. ❚David Reay is chair in carbon management and
education at the University of Edinburgh, UK“ I’ve become a
carbon farmer.
I am trying to
balance my
lifetime carbon
debt before
I die”
NATTHAWUT NUNGSANTHER/EYEEM/GETTY