“Michigan is now a climate action leader, and that’s reason for even more hope. It shows we all – students, staff, faculty, citizens – can make a difference, and we’ll keep making a difference.”
~Dean Jonathan T. Overpeck
This newsletter features Dr. Jonathan T. Overpeck, the Samuel A. Graham Dean of the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability; William B. Stapp Collegiate Professor of Environmental Education; Professor, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering; Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
You have quite a collection of accolades, including the leading the IPCC team that produced the Nobel Prize-winning report and US Department of Commerce Bronze and Gold Medals. Do you have an accolade, accomplishment or award of which you are most proud?
The IPCC was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in 2007 and it was a huge team effort. But I was one of the leads that got an early morning media call – I think it was NPR. I had no idea that climate scientists could win a Nobel Prize, so I figured it was a friend playing a joke on me. Once they convinced me it was for real, they asked me what I thought about the accomplishment, and I quickly had an answer – it’s the Nobel Peace Prize, and it’s so appropriate that it’s the Peace Prize!
Fifteen years later, I should note that several other colleagues and friends have won other Nobel Prizes (Economics and Physics) for their climate change-related work. It’s very sound science.
“What’s needed is a set of guiding principles focused on managing the Great Lakes at the ecosystem scale, centering justice, embracing the blue economy and the energy transformation, and prioritizing community partnerships…”
This statement is from a description of a publication you co-authored. Can you elaborate on it?
The Great Lakes hold over 20% of the world’s unfrozen fresh water, an amazing resource that needs careful management and stewardship, especially in an era of global climate and water crisis. We need to do better to ensure that everyone in the region benefits from this stewardship. Academics can make a big difference, but only by combining academic knowledge with the knowledge from communities, and by working together with those from all walks of life, can we really do the job that the Great Lakes deserve.
Back in January of this year, you wrote about 4 reasons for hope. Given what you have seen since January, would you alter anything that you wrote?
In Michigan, we had a great climate action plan back in January, but now our state legislature and governor have made key elements of that plan reality. Michigan is now a climate action leader, and that’s reason for even more hope. It shows we all – students, staff, faculty, citizens – can make a difference, and we’ll keep making a difference.
And it’s great to see the U.S. and China working together on halting climate change again. That’s BIG.
