Professor Paul Bates CBE FRS is Professor of Hydrology at the University of Bristol where he specialises in the science of flooding.  He develops new numerical solutions to the Shallow Water equations and combines these with satellite and airborne data to advance our fundamental understanding of flood dynamics and reduce threats to life and economic losses worldwide.  His work is used by multiple researchers, NGOs, multi-national companies and insurers to manage flood hazard and risk.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the American Geophysical Union, a double winner of the Lloyd’s of London Science of Risk prize and in 2019 was made a Commander of the British Empire for services to flood risk management