From coral reef conservation to renewable energy, work by five Lancaster University academics has seen them named Highly Cited Researchers 2021 from Clarivate, the global information and technology provider for scientific research.

The list recognises researchers of the most influential research papers around the world, whose papers have demonstrated significant citations of top 1% for their field and publication year during the last decade.

An annual exercise, the Highly Cited Researcher list draws on the data from Clarivate’s Web of Science group and select researchers for exceptional performance across 21 fields.

Clarivate unveiled its 2021 list of Highly Cited Researchers™ on the 16th November 2021.

The Lancaster University highly cited researchers for 2021 are:

Professor Nick Graham is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a Chair in Marine Ecology based in Lancaster University’s Environment Centre. His research tackles the challenges facing coral reef ecosystems, using large scale ecological and social-ecological approaches to understand and better manage climatic impacts and human use. He is also an adjunct professor at James Cook University, Australia.

Professor Steve Long is a Distinguished Professor of Crop Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He has a dual appointment at Lancaster University’s Environment Centre and the University of Illinois. He uses computational and experimental approaches to improve photosynthetic efficiency, and works to address the effects of climate change on crop yield. He has been recognised as a highly cited researcher in the field of plant and animal science every year since 2005.

Professor Saidur Rahman is Professor of Energy Technology at Lancaster’s Department of Engineering and Distinguish Research Professor at Sunway University, Malaysia. He works in the area of renewable energy, energy efficiency, thermal energy storage and nano-materials for renewable energy applications. He promotes collaborative links between Lancaster and Sunway and has worked with Lancaster’s Chemical Engineering and Energy Research Groups in applying for Malaysian Government and Newton Fund research grants.

Professor Eddie Allison is the Executive Director, Science and Research at WorldFish and is affiliated with Lancaster Environmental Centre. Eddie is an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in marine biology, fisheries science and international development studies and interests in coastal and marine social-ecological systems, particularly small-scale fisheries.

Professor Alfredo De Massis is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Business at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy and with Lancaster University Management School. He has been Director of the School's Centre for Family Business, and is involved in collaboration and scientific advisory activities by offering intellectual contributions within the Wild Chair in Family Business at the International Institute for Management Development.

Professor Louise Heathwaite, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at Lancaster University, said: “I am so pleased to see both familiar and new names appearing on this list of critically leading and global highly-cited researchers; even more so as the areas of research excellence address themes such as environment and sustainability that are core to our institutional strategy. Lancaster is committed to attracting and retaining the brightest women and men from around the world and we are ambitious to extend that list to increase diversity. May I extend huge congratulations to all.”

David Pendlebury, Senior Citation Analyst at the Institute for Scientific Information, said: “This list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers at Lancaster University, who are having a significant impact on the research community as evidenced by the rate at which their work is being cited by their peers. The research they have contributed is fueling the innovation, sustainability, health and security that is key for our society’s future.”

For more information, please visit the 2021 Highly Cited Researcher page.