The 2019 Nobel Conference brought together world-leading experts to dig into the topic Climate Changed: Facing Our Future. Now, the Conference is continuing the discussion by sponsoring a lecture by Dr. Paul Andrew Mayewski, “the Indiana Jones of climate research,” on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in Nobel Hall 1412. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The Departments of Geography and Geology and the Environmental Studies Program will be hosting Paul Andrew Mayewski, an internationally acclaimed scientist, glaciologist, and polar explorer who has led more than 60 research expeditions to some of the most remote areas of the planet to study climate change and how humans have been involved.
“Mayewski’s lecture is kind of a last hurrah for the fall 2019 Nobel Conference,” said Lisa Heldke, professor of philosophy and director of Nobel Conference. The Mayewski lecture allows students to get another look at climate change before the 25th annual Building Bridges Conference in March, which will also tackle climate change.
Mayewski is the director and professor of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine. He is a distinguished Professor in the Schools of Earth and Climate Sciences, Marine Sciences, Policy and International Affairs, and the Business and Law School. His contributions to science include work on human impacts on the chemistry of the atmosphere, modern Antarctic and Himalayan ice loss, abrupt climate change, and the impact of climate change on past civilizations.
In addition, he has received many national and international awards and medals, and has appeared in hundreds of media venues including multiple appearances on CBS “60 Minutes,” the Emmy Award-winning “Years of Living Dangerously,” BBC, and NPR.
During the lecture, Mayewski will share discoveries from his research on ice cores, stories of his expedition adventures, the latest scientific thinking about climate change, and new tools to improve climate prediction. He incorporates two of his popular books, The Ice Chronicles and Journey Into Climate.
Students attending the lecture will have a chance to learn from, and ask questions of, one of the leading glaciologists in the world.
With the help of research and field work, Mayewski explains how and why the scientific community transitioned from a “gradualist” viewpoint to the realization that humanity is deeply and irrevocably involved in the short- and long-term fate of our planet’s climate.
“The age of climate decision is here, and our decisions will define the course of civilization, our health, and the health of our ecosystem,” said Mayewski.
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