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| 2001 Team |
Paul Mayewski
Field Leader
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
Paul is the Field Leader of the US ITASE expedition. He has led more than 35 scientific expeditions to the Antarctic (where a peak is named for him and where he explored uncharted territories), the Arctic (where he led fellow scientists in the recovery of a 250,000 year long record of climate change), the Himalayas (where he led the first scientific expedition into the glaciers of interior Ladakh since the early 20th century) and the Tibetan Plateau.
Along with his co-author, Frank White, Paul recently (March 2002) published a book for popular audiences - "The Ice Chronicles" - that captures the adventure of scientific research in remote reaches of the Earth and a description of important new breakthroughs in the understanding of climate change resulting from this research.
In 1989 he and his wife Lyn were in Grenoble, France attending an international scientific meeting when Paul suggested to the participants at the meeting that they consider joining the logistic and scientific expertise of what is now 15 countries to explore recent changes in climate and atmospheric chemistry over Antarctica. Lyn used her talents as an artist (she is a silversmith and watercolorist) to draw a preliminary sketch of an ITASE traverse to present to the meeting and over the following years ITASE became a major initiative for several national and international organizations.
Paul
and Lyn enjoy a variety of athletic activities including triathlons, sailing
and kayaking plus hiking and swimming with their two golden retrievers,
Mac and Maggie. While Lyn has not been to the polar regions with Paul they
have traveled together in Asia, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. They
also enjoy driving through the countryside in their 1965 Land Rover.
Paul is the Director of The Institute for Quaternary and Climate Studies and a Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Maine. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, attended school in New York City, went to the State University of New York at Buffalo for his undergraduate degree and received his Ph.D in 1973 from the Institute of Polar Studies at Ohio State University, and has an honorary PhD from Stockholm University in Sweden. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, a Fellow and citation winner in the Explorers Club, has been a member of several National Academy of Sciences committees (e.g., US Global Change Research Program, Arctic Natural Sciences, Human Dimensions of Climate Change) and is a member of several international committees (e.g., International Geosphere Biosphere Program, Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research).
He has published in excess of 200 papers in peer reviewed journals (e.g., Science, Nature, Journal of Geophysical Research, Reviews of Geophysics). His papers have been instrumental in understanding a wide range of scientific problems including, for example: the chemistry of the remote atmosphere, acid rain, the ozone hole, the global distribution of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, identification of massive and rapid change in climate, controls on climate change, histories of volcanic activity, biomass burning, aridity events, storm activity, sea ice extent and major atmospheric phenomena as well as calibration of proxy and instrumental records for purposes of developing longer climate data bases from which to understand climate change.
His science administrative responsibilities include: founder and Director of the Climate Change Research Center of the University of New Hampshire, Chair of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientist (for 25 institutions) for the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) and, founder and Chair of the Executive Committee for the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE, 15 countries).
He has developed strong collaborative activities with numerous international institutions (e.g., Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nepalese Department of Hydrology and Meteorology , Australian Antarctic Division remove) and to foster public understanding of climate change issues with several museums (e.g., Museum of Science, Boston and the American Museum of Natural History NYC).
His expeditionary and scientific achievements have been highlighted in several hundred popular articles and interviews including, for example: Discover, Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Good Morning America, National Public Radio's Fresh Air and several NOVA and BBC productions.
