Stephen H. Schneider
Stanford University
February 11, 1945 - July 19, 2010
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Scientific Discipline: Environmental Sciences and Ecology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2002)
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Stephen H. Schneider was a pioneer in climate change modeling and determining the biological implications of climate change. He did seminal work on a variety of global change topics, including determining that cloud height plays a key role in climate and developing mathematical models to deal with the uncertainties inherent in climate variation, such as ocean dynamics and cloud changes. Using these models, he urged governments to take action against climate change and created tools to help governments develop public policies on environmental and ecological issues.
Schneider attended Columbia University, where he earned his BS and MS degrees and a PhD in mechanical engineering. From 1971 to 1972 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, and he went on to head various climate change committees at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. In 1992 he became a professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy. He served on the United Nations panel on climate change that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.”
