Science Webinar Series

Climate Change and the Public:
Overcoming Skepticism After ClimateGate


Date: Monday, September 27, 2010
Time: Noon (12:00 PM) ET, 9:00 AM PT, 4 PM GMT
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This panel discussion will explore ways the scientific community can combat negative public attitudes toward Climate Change. Panelists will share their best practices for public and media engagement, debate how to respond to critiques, and explore the idea of re-framing Climate Change as a public health issue.

As an audience member you will have the opportunity to submit questions to the panel during the event.

A short registration is required to view this webinar. Space is limited and on a first come-first serve basis. Reserve yours today.

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Participants include:


Gavin Schmidt Ph.D,
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)

Bio: Dr. Gavin Schmidt is a climate modeler at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and is interested in modeling past, present, and future climate. He works on developing coupled climate models and, in particular, is interested in how their results can be compared to past climates.

He received a B.A. in Mathematics from Oxford University with honors, a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from University College London, and was a NOAA Postdoctoral Fellow in Climate and Global Change Research. He was cited by Scientific American as one of the 50 Research Leaders of 2004, and has worked on education and outreach with the American Museum of Natural History, the College de France, and the New York Academy of Sciences. He is the co-author of the popular science book "Climate Change: Picturing the Science" published by W. W. Norton in 2009, and a contributing editor to the website RealClimate.Org.


Edward Maibach, M.P.H., Ph.D.
George Mason University

Bio: Dr. Edward Maibach is a professor of communication and director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. With over 25 years of experience as a researcher and practitioner of public health communication and social marketing, Dr. Maibach now focuses exclusively on how to mobilize populations to adopt behaviors and support public policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help communities adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change. Dr. Maibach previously had the pleasure to serve as Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute, as Worldwide Director of Social Marketing at Porter Novelli, and as Chairman of the Board for Kidsave International. He also held various academic positions at George Washington University and Emory University. He earned his doctoral degree at Stanford University and his M.P.H.at San Diego State University.


Brenda Ekwurzel, Ph.D.
Union of Concerned Scientists

Bio: Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel is a climate scientist with the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). She is leading UCS's climate science education work aimed at strengthening support for sound U.S. climate policies. Dr. Ekwurzel has discussed climate change in print, online, radio, and television, with appearances on Good Morning America, the O'Reilly Factor, and the Colbert Report.

Prior to joining UCS, Dr. Ekwurzel was on the faculty of the University of Arizona Department of Hydrology and Water Resources with a joint appointment in the Geosciences Department. Her specialty is isotope geochemistry, a tool she has used to study places as disparate as the Arctic Ocean and the desert Southwest. She has published on topics that include climate variability and fire, isotopic dating of groundwater, Arctic Ocean tracer oceanography, paleohydrology, and coastal sediment erosion. Dr. Ekwurzel completed her doctorate work at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and her postdoctoral research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.


Chris Mooney
Science Journalist and Author

Bio: Chris Mooney is a science and political journalist, commentator, and the author of three books, including the New York Times bestseller "The Republican War on Science."

Mooney graduated from Yale University in 1999, where he wrote a column for the Yale Daily News. Before becoming a freelance writer, Chris worked for two years at The American Prospect as a writing fellow, then staff writer, then online editor.

Mooney currently co-writes "The Intersection" for Discover blogs. In addition, Mooney is a host of the "Point of Inquiry" podcast. He is also a contributing editor to Science Progress and a senior correspondent for The American Prospect magazine. For the summer of 2010, Mooney is a Templeton-Cambridge Fellow in Science and Religion. His 2009 article for The Nation, "Unpopular Science" (co-authored with Sheril Kirshenbaum) will be included in Best American Science Writing 2010.


Kasey White
AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Congress

Bio: Kasey Shewey White joined the AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Congress as a Senior Program Associate in June 2005. She currently focuses on climate change and environmental issues and serves as editor of the newsletter Science and Technology in Congress. Ms. White previously served as Director of Public Affairs at the Joint Oceanographic Institutions by leading outreach efforts for the Ocean Drilling Program. Ms. White also worked with the Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a co-editor of the report Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. She has also worked for the American Geological Institute's Government Affairs Program. White has a B.A. in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University and a M.A. in Environmental Sciences from Johns Hopkins University. .