Paul Mayewski

Professor Paul Andrew Mayewski is an internationally acclaimed scientist and explorer, leader of more than 50 expeditions to some of the remotest reaches of the planet. His expeditions have taken him across the Antarctic, Arctic, Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau, and Andes in search of cold hard answers to globally significant issues - acid rain, greenhouse gas warming, the Antarctic ozone hole, toxic metal pollution, natural climate variability, and abrupt climate change.

Mayewski's scientific achievements appear in more than 300 publications plus a climate change book written for the public, The Ice Chronicles with Frank White. He is known for organizing and leading large multi-disciplinary and multi-national climate change research efforts in Antarctica, Asia, and Greenland that have produced paradigm shifts in the environmental sciences.

A human impact on the planet, the planet's impact on humans. His contributions to science include discovery of: changes in atmospheric chemistry produced naturally and by humans; modern Antarctic and Himalayan ice loss as a precursor to greenhouse gas warming; identification and characterization of abrupt climate change events in the atmosphere; understanding of multiple controls on climate and the unique role of human impact; the first global scale reconstruction of past atmospheric conditions; and associations between climate change and disruptions to civilization and ecosystems.

He has received numerous honors for his scientific and exploration achievements including: the first-ever internationally awarded Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research, an honorary PhD from Stockholm University; the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Medal, Fellow in the American Geophysical Union and American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a private audience in the Forbidden City (Beijing).

He has developed highly prominent state-of-the-art research summaries; outreach efforts with the American Museum of Natural History and the Boston Museum of Science, and appeared in many public venues including, for example: CBS' 60 Minutes, PBS, BBC, NPR, and Fox News, discussing the current state of the climate system, and the future. He reveals his discoveries with sobering yet hopeful observations.

Scaling every peak. Paul Mayewski's lectures are based on extensive experience that mixes the adventure of working on Mt. Everest to the exploration of uncharted regions of Antarctica to innovative scientific methodologies. His lectures are stuffed with imperative information, and voiced with hope. He issues a call to seek solutions through increased education, economic drivers, legislation, public involvement, new technologies, and renewable energy. And more important, he believes that while we have a climate future that has been significantly altered by human activity, we can mitigate and in some cases reverse some damage and achieve economic and healthful prosperity if we take the opportunity to act now.