Lancaster Professor Peter Atkinson has been awarded the highest honour of the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG).

The William Christian Krumbein Medal is their most prestigious award which is given in alternate years to senior scientists for overall career achievement.

Professor Atkinson said: “It is a huge honour for me to receive this most significant award from the IAMG which represents the very best of mathematical innovation in the geosciences. Some of the most eminent geostatisticians have received the Medal historically, including Professor André G. Journel whose early, incisive works helped to promote Matheron’s geostatistics to a wider audience, and the namesake of the Kriging method itself, Professor Daniel G. Krige.”

Professor Atkinson is a Distinguished Professor of Spatial Data Science at Lancaster University, where his research focuses on methods for remote sensing, spatial statistics and artificial intelligence applied to a wide range of challenges including in land systems, natural hazards, agriculture, ecology and epidemiology. He is highly regarded for his research on geostatistical change-of-support theory and statistical downscaling in Earth observation.

The IAMG Awards Committee said: “The committee selected you for this career-defining award in recognition of your significant contributions to the science of mathematical geosciences and your exemplary research within the field. Your work continues to have a profound impact on our community.”

Peter is also a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, received the Cuthbert Peek Award of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG) in 2024, became a Distinguished Lecturer of the International Association of the IAMG in 2020, and a Laureate of the Peter Burrough Medal of the International Spatial Accuracy Research Association (ISARA) in 2016.