Gavin Schmidt - Media and Outreach

Media and Outreach

Schmidt is a founding member and contributor to RealClimate, a blog that provides commentary on climate science for the public and journalists. Participants on the website state that all posts on the site are internally peer reviewed. Many are written by other members, with frequent guest posts from non-member leading scientists. Schmidt's articles and comments on the blog have presented scientific defence against accusations raised in controversies over the "Hockey Stick" graph. During the 2009-2010 Climatic Research Unit email controversy he strongly defended the scientists involved, including Michael E. Mann and Phil Jones. Journalist Fred Pearce notes that in a post on the blog, Schmidt wrote that the emails merely showed how scientists interact in private, and that "Gravity isn't a useful theory because Newton was a nice man."

On 16 October 2011, the American Geophysical Union announced that Schmidt was to be awarded its inaugural Climate Communications Prize which "recognizes excellence in climate communication as well as the promotion of scientific literacy, clarity of messaging, and efforts to foster respect and understanding for science-based values related to climate change". It noted his part in co-founding and writing for RealClimate, in working with photographers to produce a popular science book, his work in producing online courses and in preparing museum exhibits. Schmidt was also praised for making numerous appearances as a commentator on TV and radio, and in magazine and newspaper articles, giving a scientist’s perspective on the study of climate and on climate issues. The award, to be presented at the AGU's Fall Meeting in December, is sponsored by the Boulder, Colorado, based company Nature's Own which sells decorative specimens of stones, minerals and fossils. It includes a $25,000 cash award.