Dr. Michael Evan Mann stands as a preeminent leader in climate science whose pioneering work has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of historical climate patterns. He currently serves as Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication, and directs the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media. Mann received his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Applied Math from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989, followed by an M.S. in Physics and ultimately a Ph.D. in Geology & Geophysics from Yale University in 1998. His distinguished academic career includes a previous position as Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University. This trajectory established him as a leading authority in the field of climate reconstruction and paleoclimatology.
Mann's groundbreaking research in climate science is perhaps best exemplified by his development of the now-famous "hockey stick graph," formally presented in the seminal 1999 paper with Bradley and Hughes that reconstructed Northern Hemisphere temperatures over the past millennium. This pioneering work, which revealed the unprecedented nature of late 20th century warming, was featured prominently in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Third Assessment Report published in 2001, significantly influencing global climate policy discussions. He has pioneered advanced statistical techniques to identify climate signals within noisy paleoclimate data, establishing robust methods for distinguishing natural climate variability from anthropogenic influences across historical timescales. Mann's innovative approaches to climate reconstruction have fundamentally transformed how scientists analyze and interpret long-term climate patterns across hemispheres and centuries. His work represents a critical contribution to the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming and the exceptional nature of contemporary climate change.
As a highly effective communicator of climate science, Mann has received numerous prestigious honors including the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2019 and election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020 for his exceptional contributions to the field. He has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and six influential books, including "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars" and "The New Climate War," which have significantly advanced public understanding of climate science and policy. Mann co-founded the award-winning science website RealClimate.org to bridge the gap between climate scientists and the public, demonstrating his commitment to translating complex scientific concepts for diverse audiences. His efforts in science communication have earned him recognition including the Award for Public Engagement with Science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His current research continues to focus on the critical intersection of climate science, impacts, and policy, with particular emphasis on innovative communication strategies to advance evidence-based climate solutions for our planet's future.
