Prof. María Carmen Llasat FRMetS receives the St George’s Cross

We want to offer our congratulations to international Fellow Prof. María Carmen Llasat, Professor at the Universitat de Barcelona, who has been presented with the 'Creu de Sant Jordi' (St George’s Cross) by the President of the Catalan government.

As a Professor of Atmospheric Physics in the Department of Applied Physics at the University of Barcelona and director of the GAMA team (Meteorological Hazards Analysis Team), she is one of the pioneering women promoting interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies. She has been awarded for her contribution to the field of physics and the study, research and awareness of climate change and natural hazards.

The 'Creu de Sant Jordi' is an annual distinction awarded by the Government of Catalonia to those people and social entities that “due to their merits, have provided outstanding services to Catalonia in the defence of its identity, especially in the civic and cultural field”. It is based on the cross of Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia. It is one of the highest distinctions awarded by the Government of Catalonia.

Prof. María Carmen Llasat was previously scientific director of the Catalan Agrometeorological Network, leading the agroclimatic characterisation of Catalonia and the project for the installation of the automatic meteorological stations of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia after its reopening in the mid-1990s. Since then, she has collaborated with the Forest Fire Prevention Service, leading projects to improve the prediction of fire danger in the short and medium term and has developed projects with Civil Protection to improve the awareness and empowerment of the population in the face of natural risks.

She was also President of the Interdisciplinary Working Group of Natural Hazards of the European Geophysical Society; founder and editor-in-chief of Natural Hazards and Earth System Science journal; coordinator of the Heavy Rainfalls group of the AMHY/FRIEND program of UNESCO and the groups on socioeconomic impacts of the international programs and HyMeX (HYdrological cycle in the Mediterranean EXperiment) and the MEDEX (The Mediterranean Experiment) supported by the World Meteorological Organisation.

Prof Llasat has also been a member of the Advisory Council of Sustainable Development of Catalonia, acting as the author of the first report in Spain on the Sustainable Development Goals and the second and third reports on Climate Change in Catalonia, among others.