Bill McGuire is an academic, broadcaster, writer, blogger and activist. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London. He is also a Patron of Scientists for Global Responsibility and a Co-Director of the New Weather Institute, a co-operative and think-tank created to accelerate the rapid transition to a fair economy that thrives within planetary boundaries. Bill is the main science blogger for Extinction Rebellion. In previous incarnations he was a member of the UK Government Natural Hazard Working Group established in January 2005, in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami, and in 2010 a member of the Science Advisory Group in Emergencies (SAGE) addressing the Icelandic volcanic ash problem. In 2011, he was one of the contributors to the IPCC report on climate change and extreme events.
His non-fiction books include A Guide to the End of the World: Everything you Never Wanted to Know and Surviving Armageddon: Solutions for a Threatened Planet. His current book is Waking the Giant: How a Changing Climate Triggers Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes; ranked at number five in The Guardian's Top 10 'eco' books.
Bill presented the BBC Radio 4 series, Disasters in Waiting and Scientists Under Pressure and the End of the World Reports on Channel 5 and Sky News. He has also contributed to countless other television and radio programmes and was consultant and main contributor for the lauded BBC Horizon films; Supervolcanoes and Megatsunami - Wave of Destruction, as well as for the BBC drama, Supervolcano.
Bill is a regular contributor for Prospect magazine. He also writes for The Guardian, The Times and The Observer, and is a regular contributor to New Scientist and Focus magazines. In 2016 he co-presented Project Doomsday with comedy duo, Robin & Partridge (various venues). Bill's latest book, co-edited with Andrew Simms, is the anthology Knock Three Times: 28 Modern Folk Talks for a Troubled World. He lives, runs and grows fruit and veg in the Peak District, where he resides with his wife Anna, sons Jake (10) and Fraser (16), and cats Dave, Toby and Cashew.