 In 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and in 2014 made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.He has an honorary doctorate from the Open University (DUniv) from Heriot-Watt University (DSc) and from University of Edinburgh (DSc).He was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to science in HM Queen Elizabeth II's New Year Honours list, announced on 30 December 2006.