Profile

Richard Somerville, PhD

Bio

Richard Somerville is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. He is a theoretical meteorologist and an expert on computer simulations of the atmosphere. He earned a B. S. in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph. D. in meteorology from New York University. He has been a professor at Scripps since 1979.

His interests include all aspects of climate, including climate science outreach and the interface between science and public policy. He was an organizer and signer of the Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists. He is also a co-author of The Copenhagen Diagnosis, a report by 26 climate science experts from 8 countries, summarizing important new research results.

He has received awards from the American Meteorological Society for both his research and his popular book, The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change. Among many honors, he is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society. Richard Somerville is a Coordinating Lead Author of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.