January 6, 2025
2 min read
Biden Awards Three Climate Experts Nation’s Highest Science Honor
Richard Alley, Lawrence Edwards and David Tilman were among the two dozen honorees who received the National Medal of Science or the National Medal of Technology and Innovation last week
Rhône Glacier, the source of the river of the same name, is located in the Swiss Alps. Like many other alpine glaciers around the world, it has retreated significantly in the last 150 years as global temperatures rise.
GmbH & Co. KG/Alamy Stock Photo
CLIMATEWIRE | The White House recognized more than two dozen scientists and innovators Friday with what will likely be the Biden administration’s last National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology and Innovation.
The awards honored researchers ranging from astrophysicists and oncologists, as well as the pharmaceutical companies that developed the mRNA vaccines for Covid-19. Three climate and environmental scientists were included in the bunch.
Richard Alley, a geoscientist at Pennsylvania State University, received a National Medal of Science for his decades of research on melting glaciers and ice sheets, sea-level rise and other climate impacts.
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“Spending long tours in the most remote and extreme environments on Earth, Richard Alley has catapulted climate predictions to great heights and raised new urgency to address the climate crisis, moving the world toward a sustainable future,” said Kei Koizumi, principal deputy director for science, society and policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who announced the awards.
Also recognized was R. Lawrence Edwards, a climate scientist at the University of Minnesota. Edwards was awarded a National Medal of Science for his work on reconstructing the planet’s climate history dating back to the prehistoric ages.
“Lawrence Edward’s innovative research methods shed light on the rate, scale and drivers of climate change and the impact on human civilization, defining him as one of the most celebrated earth scientists of our time,” Koizumi said.
G. David Tilman, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota, also received a National Medal of Science for his research on biodiversity and conservation, including the ways that the planet’s diversity of life helps bolster ecosystems against environmental disturbances like climate change.
“David Tilman’s work proves the extraordinary variety of life that exists on Earth is essential to productive ecosystems, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and more, helping to feed and power the world while making conservation both a strategic and moral calling,” Koizumi said.
Altogether, the White House awarded 14 National Medals of Science and 11 National Medals of Technology and Innovation.
“This year’s honorees represent a simple truth as I’ve always believed. America can be defined by a single word: possibilities,” Biden said at the ceremony on Friday. “That’s who we are: a nation of possibilities.”
Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.
