Naomi Oreskes stands as a preeminent historian of science whose work has fundamentally reshaped understanding of climate change science and the political economy of scientific knowledge. She currently holds the distinguished position of Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, bringing exceptional interdisciplinary expertise to both departments. With a background grounded in geology, Oreskes began her academic career with a focus on the history of earth sciences before evolving toward critical examinations of climate science and scientific consensus. Her fifteen-year tenure as Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego, established her as a leading voice bridging scientific expertise and historical analysis.
Dr. Oreskes's groundbreaking 2004 essay 'The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change' documented the overwhelming agreement among climate scientists regarding anthropogenic warming, becoming one of the most influential works in the field with over 2,500 citations and featuring in the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. Her co-authored book Merchants of Doubt (2010) exposed systematic disinformation campaigns that obscured scientific evidence on issues ranging from tobacco to climate change, fundamentally changing public discourse and inspiring both a documentary film and international translations. Through works such as The Collapse of Western Civilization (2014), Discerning Experts (2019), and Science on a Mission (2021), she has provided unparalleled historical context for understanding how scientific knowledge is constructed, contested, and communicated in society. These contributions have established her as an essential voice in navigating the complex relationship between scientific evidence and policy decision-making in the face of existential environmental challenges.
Beyond her scholarly publications, Professor Oreskes has emerged as a leading public intellectual whose work informs climate policy debates worldwide and shapes how scientists, journalists, and policymakers understand scientific consensus. Her influential research in agnotology, the study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt, has provided critical frameworks for recognizing and countering disinformation campaigns targeting scientific institutions. In 2018, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on The Big Myth, which examines how business interests have shaped public understanding of markets and government. Continuing to advance both scholarship and public discourse, Oreskes remains at the forefront of efforts to strengthen scientific integrity in policymaking and to illuminate the historical and political contexts that shape our understanding of environmental challenges.
