Share A University of Reading scientist has been awarded the Christiaan Huygens Medal by the European Geosciences Union (EGU) for his work advancing understanding of electric charge in Earth’s atmosphere. Professor Giles Harrison’s pioneering use of lightweight instruments fitted to balloons and drones to take atmospheric measurements also confirmed turbulence in the atmosphere of Titan, the moon of Saturn which was discovered by Huygens in 1655. Professor Harrison’s recent research has had a global impact, with an ongoing project investigating how charge could increase rainfall in the Middle East. This project also involves fellow Meteorology researcher Dr Keri Nicoll, who was last year awarded the Atmospheric and Space Electricity Early Career Award by the American Geophysical Union.