Michael Oppenheimer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Oppenheimer is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University. Prior to joining Princeton he was Chief Scientist with Environmental Defense Fund, where he managed the Climate and Air Program. Prior to his position at the Environmental Defense Fund, Dr. Oppenheimer served as Atomic and Molecular Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Lecturer on Astronomy at Harvard University. He received an S.B. in chemistry from M.I.T., a Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Chicago, and pursued post-doctoral research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

His interests include science and policy of the atmosphere, particularly climate change and its impacts. Much of his research aims to understand the potential for "dangerous" outcomes of increasing levels of greehouse gases by exploring the effects of global warming on ecosystems such as coral reefs, on the ice sheets, and on sea level.He also studies the role played by nongovernmental organizations in the policy arena, the role of scientific learning and scientific assessment in decisions on problems of global change, and the potential value of precautionary frameworks.

Oppenheimer is a long-time participant in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, serving most recently as a lead author of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report. He has authored more than 90 articles published in professional journals and is co-author (with Robert H. Boyle) of a 1990 book, Dead Heat: The Race Against The Greenhouse Effect.

Oppenheimer has appeared with actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio on The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as other television programs such as the 2006 Discovery Channel show entitled Global Warming: What You Need to Know, with Tom Brokaw. Oppenheimer appeared on the 12 February 2007 episode of The Colbert Report.

He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.