Dr. Philip Mote
Oregon State University
Friday, April 8, 2016 @ 8 pm
Tickets – $7
Despite thousands of research papers, dozens of weighty assessment reports, and statements from learned academies, there remains a wide gap between scientific understanding and public understanding of climate change. Even scientists can engage in wishful thinking about its existence, causes, and consequences. Dr. Mote will explore this gap in understanding and perception in his talk on April 8.
Philip W. Mote is a professor in the College of Earth, Oceanic, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University; director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI) for the Oregon University System; and director of Oregon Climate Services, the official state climate office for Oregon. Dr. Mote’s current research interests include scenario development, regional climate change, regional climate modeling with a super-ensemble generated by volunteers’ personal computers, and adaptation to climate change. He is the co- leader of the NOAA-funded Climate Impacts Research Consortium for the Northwest, and also of the Northwest Climate Science Center for the US Department of the Interior. Since 2005 he has been involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He is also a coordinating lead author and advisory council member for the US National Climate Assessment, and has served on numerous author teams for the National Research Council (NRC). He earned a B.A. in physics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington, and arrived at OSU to establish OCCRI in 2009.