The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announced earlier this week that it has selected UC Berkeley climate change scientist and forest ecologist Patrick Gonzalez as a lead author on its next global scientific assessment of climate change.
IPCC produces the authoritative scientific assessments that guide global policy and action on human-caused climate change. For this work, IPCC was awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Gonzalez has served as a lead author on four previous IPCC reports, including the terrestrial ecosystems chapter of the 2022 assessment. For the upcoming assessment, planned for completion in 2028 or 2029, he is part of a team producing the North America chapter of the volume on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, part of IPCC Working Group II.
"It's an honor to advance climate change science and solutions as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," Gonzalez said. "This work provides a strong foundation for innovative policies and meaningful efforts to halt climate change."
An associate adjunct professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Gonzalez earned his Ph.D. from Berkeley's Energy and Resources Group.
He has conducted field research in Africa, Latin America and the U.S. on climate change, tree mortality, wildfire and carbon solutions, published with colleagues in Science and other journals, and assisted local people and field managers in 26 countries and 269 units of the U.S. National Park System. He previously served as principal climate change scientist of the U.S. National Park Service and assistant director for climate and biodiversity of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has broadened public understanding of climate change in the media and stood publicly for scientific integrity.
In addition to Gonzalez from Berkeley's main campus, IPCC selected Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists Charles Koven and Nan Zhou as lead authors of companion volumes. Koven is also an alum of Berkeley who received a Ph.D. in environmental science, policy and management in 2006.
