This page updated: 13 May 2007

General information

From October 1997 to September 2001, I was a PhD student at

Bullard Labs of the Department of Earth Sciences
University of Cambridge
Madingley Road
Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK

I completed my PhD in planetary geophysics in April 2001, working with Dan McKenzie and Francis Nimmo, analysing the gravity and topography of Venus and Mars to gain information about their internal structure. Our particular research interests were:

• The elastic thickness (rigidity) of the lithosphere
• The surface expression of mantle processes such as convection
• The large-scale tectonics of the terrestrial planets
• Implications for planetary heat flow and thermal evolution

The title of my thesis was Convection, elasticity and flexure inside terrestrial planets.

• Abstract
• Full postscript version - 25 Mb (102 Mb when unzipped)

In addition, the following is a list of my associated publications:

• Barnett, D.N. and F. Nimmo 2002. Strength of faults on Mars from MOLA topography.
  Icarus, 157, 34-42. - Abstract - PDF
• McKenzie, D., D.N. Barnett and D.-N. Yuan 2002. The relationship between Martian gravity and topography.
  Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 195, 1-16. - Abstract - PDF
• Barnett, D.N., F. Nimmo and D. McKenzie 2002. Flexure of Venusian lithosphere measured from residual topography and gravity.
  J. Geophys. Res., 107, (E2), 1-21, art. no. 5007, DOI 10.1029/2000JE001398. - Abstract - PDF
• Barnett, D.N., F. Nimmo and D. McKenzie 2000. Elastic thickness estimates for Venus using line of sight accelerations from Magellan cycle 5.
  Icarus, 146, 404-419. - Abstract - PDF

• Nimmo, F. and D.N. Barnett 2002. Strength of faults on Mars from MOLA topography. (Abstract)
  Lunar Planet. Sci., 33, Abstract #1169.
• Barnett, D.N. and D. McKenzie 2000. Flexure of Venusian lithosphere measured from residual topography. (Abstract)
  Lunar Planet. Sci., 31, Abstract #1254.

Cambridge links

• Bullard Laboratories, Cambridge
• Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
• University of Cambridge
• Queens' College, Cambridge

Between November 2001 and July 2003, I was a Climate Change Research Scientist at

Met Office
Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research
Johnson House
London Road
Bracknell
Berkshire RG12 2SY, UK

Whilst at the Hadley Centre, I was working on the Quantifying Uncertainty in Model Predictions (QUMP) research theme. This entailed the following areas of research:

• Quantifying uncertainty in predictions of the effects on the climate of anthropogenic emissions, using large ensembles of global circulation model (GCM) runs
• Developing measures of model skill, to weight the predictions of model versions according to their ability to simulate climate processes
• Analysis of changes in the frequency of extreme climatic events under climate change

Some links pertaining to this job

• Met Office
• Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research
• climateprediction.net - A related project, using idle time on computers owned by the general public to run climate models

• My Met Office Publications
• Trip Reports

I am currently Head of Research with Envisional, with whom I have been working since February 2004.

Envisional Ltd.
Betjeman House
104 Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 1LQ, UK

Sublime is Queens' College a cappella society, with which I have sung since 2000.
A selection of our recordings can be found here.
















Sublime performing at CUACS' Cabaret au Chocolat, Emmanuel College Old Library, 27 February 2004

Other assorted links

• My old personal home page (2001) - Enter at your peril
• A selection of my friends' home pages
• Links to other sites
• Other David Barnetts on the web
• BA Annual Festival Trip Reports
• My poems