A BOFFIN from Lancaster is helping to predict how the earth's climate will change in the future.

And now Professor Barbara Maher, professor of physical geography at Lancaster University, has been saluted by the physics world for her pioneering work.

Prof Maher, pictured, has been presented with the Chree Medal and Prize the most prestigious prize awarded by the Institute of Physics.

Over the years she has been using the magnetism in rocks and soil to understand how changes in the earth's climate have been caused by humans and by natural events in the past.

Her work is now helping scien-tists predict exactly how the earth's climate might change in the future.

The award was presented at a special dinner at the Savoy Hotel in London last Thursday.