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Member Since 1989
Andrew E. Dessler
Professor, Texas A&M University College Station
Honors and Awards
Pavel S. Molchanov Climate Communications Prize
Received December 2021
Citation
Andrew
Dessler has made significant contributions in communicating climate
change to the general public, an undertaking of great importance to the
scientific community. He has emerged as one of the most influential
climate communicators in the state of Texas and a global voice on the
issue. Dessler began his interest in climate communications while
working in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under
the Clinton administration in 2000. During that time, he became acutely
aware of the importance of communicating accurate science to
policymakers. After he returned to his job at the University of
Maryland, he took what he learned there and wrote a book that focused on
the intersection of climate science and climate policy. His book The
Science and Politics of Global Climate Change: A Guide to the Debate has
sold about 14,000 copies in universities around the world. Another of
his books, Introduction to Modern Climate Change, has sold more than
30,000 copies. When Dessler moved to Texas in 2005 to join the faculty
at A&M University, he recognized the opportunity to change minds in a
traditionally conservative state. He made contact with various
environmental groups in Texas and began explaining climate science to
the Texas legislature in multiple hearings in the 2000s. In addition to
his efforts to communicate to legislators and in the classroom, Dessler
began communicating climate science more broadly. In 2006, he started
his own blog to discuss climate science. Soon after it started, Grist
invited him to move his blog there, which he did, and he started blogged there
for about 3 years. He began writing op-eds and over the years has
written dozens of them for Texas papers. He brought his ideas to urban
newspapers, such as his 2009 op-ed explaining the implications of
Climategate in the Houston Chronicle. Over time, Dessler has developed a
relationship with the editorial board of the San Antonio Express-News,
one of the biggest papers in Texas. He has written op-eds with impact in
response to important events. In 2019, in response to Gov. Greg
Abbott’s statement that it was impossible to know whether humans were
impacting climate, Dessler spearheaded a letter to the governor signed
by 26 climate experts offering to brief him on the science of climate
change. The dedication of Andrew Dessler in communicating climate
science has promoted public awareness of science-based results and
facilitated decision-making by policymakers for climate protection.
— Gerald R. North and Renyi Zhang
Texas A&M UniversityCollege Station, Texas
Response
I’d
like to thank AGU and the selection committee for awarding me AGU’s
Climate Communication Prize. I’d also like to thank my nominators, Jerry
North and Renyi Zhang, as well as my many colleagues who have supported
my efforts to communicate the threat of climate change. The previous
winners of this award include many friends and heroes of mine, so it is
humbling to join their ranks.
When I communicate, my goal is this: explain to anyone who will listen
that climate change is not a scientific problem — thanks to the work of
many AGU members, we largely understand what’s going on in the climate
system. It’s also not a technical problem — we know how to generate
energy without emitting greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Climate
change is a political problem. The political elite has prioritized their
own future over the future of humanity. That’s why the most important
message I convey is that if you care about the climate, you should vote
for candidates who share your concern.
Gone are the days when being a popular public communicator was a
detriment to your career. Most in the scientific community now recognize
the crucially important role that communication plays in maintaining
public support for science. In fact, I think it can be good for your
career. At this point, I’m sure I’m better known for my Twitter feed
than for my peer-reviewed publications.
To those who want to communicate more about climate science, I have a
message: DO IT! With social media, anyone can be a communicator. Find
your voice and speak out! But also understand that no single individual
will turn the tide of the debate by themselves. Instead, think of your
climate communication efforts as being akin to a raindrop falling on a
mountain. No individual raindrop will affect the mountain. But enough
raindrops, working together, can wear the mountain down.
Together, we must wear down the mountain of inaction. Climate change is
an irreversible, multigenerational problem. We are in the privileged
position of being one of the last, if not the last, generation able to
take action to avoid dangerous climate change. We need to ensure that we
do so. So please go talk to someone about climate change.
— Andrew E. Dessler
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
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Union Fellow
Received December 2019
Citation
For his creative and incisive studies of the influences of water and clouds in the climate system.
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Stephen Schneider Lecture
Received December 2019
Outstanding Reviewer Award - Earth and Space Science
Received December 2016
Ascent Award
Received December 2012
Andrew E. Dessler, Jose L. Jimenez, Stephen A. Klein, and Athanasios Nenes received 2012 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Awards at the 2012 AGU Fall Meeting, held 3–7 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes “research contributions by excep...
Andrew E. Dessler, Jose L. Jimenez, Stephen A. Klein, and Athanasios Nenes received 2012 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Awards at the 2012 AGU Fall Meeting, held 3–7 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes “research contributions by exceptional mid-career scientists in the fields of atmospheric and climate sciences.”
Citation
The Atmospheric Sciences section of AGU awards one of the four Ascent Awards to Professor Andrew E. Dessler of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University for fundamental contributions to the understanding of stratospheric-tropospheric exchange processes and the physics of ozone depletion and for attempts to unravel water vapor and cloud feedbacks in the climate system. In addition, he is commended for his ceaseless work in communicating the science of climate change to the public.
His letters of recommendation speak to his work and “path breaking” and imparting of a “major impact on science and on dissemination.” His work on climate feedbacks is described as “pioneering,” and his accomplishments “have enhanced our understanding and assessment of the intricate play among water vapor, clouds, and surface temperature increase in the Earth’s atmosphere.”
Andrew E. Dessler is well worthy of an Ascent Award and personifies exceptional scientific accomplishments in a field of difficult but important science.
—PETER J. WEBSTER, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
Response
I’d like to thank the Atmospheric Sciences Section Award Committee for this recognition.
I’d like to say that I’m humbled to join the illustrious group of former winners, but because this is the first time the award has been given, I leave that platitude for next year’s winners. Most of all, I’d like to acknowledge the entire climate science community. Over the last several decades, thousands of us have devoted our professional lives to studying climate, and the community has done a remarkable job of working out the physics of the problem. Ignored by many, demonized by some, I believe that future generations will look back and say, “They nailed it.” It has been an honor to work with all of you on this problem.
—ANDREW E. DESSLER, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station
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Current Roles
President
Global Environmental Change Executive Committee
Section President
Council