A SHARE OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Gary Yohe, the Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics, is a senior member and coordinating lead author on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Al Gore.
The Nobel Committee cited the IPCC and Gore for “their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.
“The IPCC has created an ever-broader in formed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming. In the last few years, the connections have become even clearer and the consequences still more apparent.”
Yohe, who has been involved with IPCC for more than a decade, is one of the leading members of the panel. Currently, he serves as the Coordinating Lead Author in the Contribution of Working Group 2 of the Fourth Assessment Report and member of the Core Writing Team for the Synthesis Report of the Fourth Assessment. Gianna Palmer ’10 worked with Yohe as a co-author and, he pointed out, is also entitled to a stake in the prize.
When contacted about the award, Yohe was elated.
“The authors who participate in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have always been secure in the knowledge that their assessments contribute to their respective climate research communities,” he said. “It is now particularly rewarding to hear that the Nobel Committee thinks so highly of our work and recognizes its role in elevating the public discourse on climate change. We are, collectively, humbled and invigorated by this award.”