Texas Tech University climate science expert Katharine Hayhoe has been honored with a Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education (NCSE).
The Friend of the Planet Award recognizes those who defend and promote science education through lectures, seminars, hearings and in media appearances while also teaching science and educating the public.
Hayhoe, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, is one of three people, along with the organization Skeptical Science, to be honored with the award. Hayhoe is also the director of the Texas Tech Climate Science Center, a collection of researchers from diverse fields who conduct research to address climate change from a variety of landscapes across the south central U.S.
“I’m honored to be recognized as part of this amazing group of people – John Abraham, Dana Nuccitelli and the Skeptical Science team – who’ve devoted their lives to communicating the realities of a changing climate to all of us who will be impacted by it,” Hayhoe said.
Hayhoe’s research involves developing and applying high-resolution climate projections to evaluate future impacts of climate change on human society and the natural environment. She has served as the lead author on key reports for the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Academy of Science’s Second and Third U.S. National Climate Assessments.
In giving her the Friend of the Planet Award, the NCSE lauded Hayhoe’s work and dedication to demonstrating the effects of climate change in all facets of life and that it is compatible with conservative and Christian values.
“Katharine is a bridge-builder between science and the wider society,” said NCSE executive director Ann Reid. “As director of Texas Tech’s Climate Science Center, founder and CEO of ATMOS Research, author of over 100 climate-related papers and co-author of the widely praised ‘A Climate for Change,’ collaborator on the TV documentary Years of Living Dangerously and a contributor to a dozen other efforts, Hayhoe has guided people around cultural barriers and toward greater acceptance of climate science and their personal need to act.”
Abraham and Nuccitelli have written numerous pieces on climate change, most notably for the Guardian. Abraham helped found the Climate Science Rapid Response Team, which connects reporters with scientifically correct sources, as well as the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, which helps scientists fight legal attacks. Nuccitelli took on climate science deniers directly in his book, “Climatology versus Pseudoscience: Exposing the Failed Predictions of Global Warming Skeptics.”
Skeptical Science is a website that explains climate change science and refutes global warming misinformation.
“The National Center for Science Education is a staunch advocate for sound science in the classroom and today. It is imperative our science includes accurate information on how our future depends on the energy choices we make,” Hayhoe said.
(News release from Texas Tech University)
