Mayewski to be presented with 2016 Hans Oeschger Medal
The European Geosciences Union is honoring Paul Mayewski for his achievements in ice research and climatic change.
In April, the director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine will receive a 2016 Hans Oeschger Medal in Vienna, Austria.
The EGU Division on Climate: Past, Present & Future established the medal in recognition of Hans Oeschger’s scientific accomplishments. Oeschger, a physicist from Switzerland, was a pioneering expert on the effects of greenhouse gases on the planet.
The EGU annually recognizes eminent scientists for outstanding research contribution in the Earth, planetary and space sciences and acknowledges them as role models for the next generation of scientists. Mayewski has led more than 55 expeditions around the planet to research climate change.
He was featured in the Emmy Award-winning Showtime series “Years of Living Dangerously” that highlighted effects of climate change on people and the planet, and he appeared in the MPBN version of the award-winning film “Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science.” Earlier this fall, the World Ocean Observatory hailed Mayewski as a Citizen of the Ocean for his inspiring contributions to ocean knowledge and advocacy.
Mayewski chairs the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE), a 21-nation program that explores the last 200 years of Antarctic climate history via a series of oversnow traverses that have covered much of the icy continent.
He is an author and a Fellow and medal winner of the Explorers Club. He was awarded the first Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research from the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research, and has received many other honors. In July, Maine magazine named him one of the state’s 50 Bold Visionaries. Last fall, Mayewski and CCI colleagues held a conference to prepare community planners for local effects of climate change, including sea-level rise and extreme weather events.