2006 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow

Dr. Andy Dessler (reinvestment faculty hire, May 2005), an Associate Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, is one 18 academic environmental scientists from the United States and Canada to be awarded a 2006 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship.

Leopold Leadership Fellows participate in an intensive training program consisting of sessions geared towards communicating science effectively to non-scientific audiences, including the media and policy makers.

Dessler said that beyond the patent training benefits this fellowship will give him, he hopes to network with other scientists through this experience.

“Besides the media training, I look forward to meeting earth science professionals who are outside of my discipline. Those types of connections are very useful but can be difficult to make,” he said.

In a recent e-mail sent to the College of Geosciences, Cynthia Barakatt, the Director of Training and Fellowships for the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, wrote: “We encourage you to keep Dr. Dessler in mind as someone who may be useful to you in your work. Once he has completed the training, you will have another scientist on campus who has had practice being interviewed by journalists and providing information to policy makers. We hope you will call on him when appropriate opportunities arise.”

This achievement comes close on the heels of another milestone in Dessler’s career; he recently completed the book, The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change: A Guide to the Debate, which he co-authored with Edward Parson.

“I think the experiences will be completely different [from writing the book],” Dessler said of his training. “Working at the White House, I saw how policy was hammered out by an administration. The training associated with this fellowship, on the other hand, will emphasize how to talk to the public.”

Additionally, Dessler said he is excited to have been chosen for this honor because he believes that the scientific community has a responsibility to share issues with the public in a manner that is easily comprehendible.

“Interacting with the general public is one of the scientific community's most important duties, and one that many scientists do poorly,” he said. “I hope the training will improve my ability to explain the science behind climate change and thereby help people come to better informed conclusions about what our policy to address climate change should be. I hope to more effectively communicate the science of climate change to the general public.”

Dessler, who received his PhD from Harvard University in 1994, is one of only two professors from A&M who have been recognized with this award; Previously, Dr. Robin Autenrieth, a professor in the Department of the Civil Engineering Department, won an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship in 2004.

For more information on the Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship Awards, go to www.leopoldleadership.org. For more information on Dr. Dessler, visit his website at www.met.tamu.edu/people/faculty/dessler.php.