News Release

US climate expert to receive honorary doctorate at University of Stockholm

Grant and Award Announcement

University of Maine

ORONO, Maine -- Paul A. Mayewski, professor in the University of Maine Climate Studies Center, will receive an honorary doctorate from Stockholm University in a ceremony September 29. The degree will be conferred by the faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Stockholm University.

Mayewski is internationally known for pioneering contributions to the understanding of historic changes in atmospheric chemistry and climate change through the study of ice cores. Ice core records provide direct and detailed measures of past climate change. Scientists use them to create a base-line for helping to decipher the influence of human activity on climate. Eventually, the records may help to predict future climates.

Mayewski is also the founder and leader of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition which will begin a second year of data collection on the southern continent this fall. The Museum of Science in Boston will follow the expedition through an exhibit at the museum, daily updates from the field team and a Web site (http://www.secretsoftheice.org/).

The modern era of climate is complicated by the combined influences of natural and human activities. Hence, understanding and predicting climate poses an immense challenge to scientists.

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Mayewski is a member of the Explorers Club whose 3,000 members include Sir Edmund Hillary, Robert Ballard and Sally Ride. The Club bestowed its Citation of Merit on Mayewski in 1995 in recognition of his contributions to the field of climatology. He is also a fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Only 0.1 percent of AGU members are elected to fellowship annually.

Mayewski received his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University in 1973 and worked in the University of Maine Institute for Quaternary Studies as a post-doctoral researcher. Before coming to UMaine this summer, he was director of the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. He has lead more than 30 expeditions to the Antarctic, Arctic, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Mayewski's honorary doctorate will be presented in the Stockholm City Hall.

Add'l contact: Nick Houtman, Dept. of Public Affairs, 207-581-3777


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