Peter is an environmental scientist whose research covers many aspects of the subject and particularly the interaction between the oceans and the atmosphere. Through his 5-year term as chairman of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) he is also well acquainted with many aspects of climate and other global changes. Until the end of 2007 he was Chair of the Surface Ocean – Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS of IGBP, WCRP, SCOR and CACGP). He served on the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for 5 years, chairing both its Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Boards. He served 3 times on the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise, the last as Chair of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Panel in 2001. He was President of the Challenger Society for Marine Sciences (2006-2008). From 2005 to 2011 he was a Commissioner of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. He was the first recipient of the Challenger Society Medal, has been awarded the Plymouth Marine Sciences Medal and the John Jeyes Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and is Guest Professor of the Ocean University of Qingdao, China.

Prof. Liss is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was created Commander of the British Empire in 2008 for his services to science. He was Chair of the European Research Council ‘Earth System Science’ Advanced Grants Panel. Further activities internationally include chairmanship of COST Action 735 (Tools for Assessing Global Air-Sea Fluxes of Climate and Air Pollution Relevant Gases), membership of international advisory boards for funding agencies, institutes and universities in the USA and several European countries, as well as participation in many EU Framework Research programmes. He was a member of the Executive Group of the ‘Future Earth’ Task Team of ICSU, the Belmont Forum and others.  Prof. Liss was elected to the Academia Europaea in 2012 and in 2013-2014 was one of the first 6 Eminent Scholars of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Texas A & M University, where he is now an Adjunct Professor.  In 2014-2015 he was Interim Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU).

His out of work activities include walking, classical music, reading (mainly non-fiction) and house renovation.

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