| Hans Joachim Schellnhuber | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 7, 1950 Ortenburg, Bavaria |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Climatology |
| Institutions | Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research University of Potsdam |
| Alma mater | University of Regensburg |
| Notable awards | German Environment Prize 2007 |
Hans Joachim "John" Schellnhuber (born June 7, 1950)[1][2] is the founding Director of Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Chair of the German Advisory Council on Global Change.[3] He is also providing advice to the President of the European Union Commission, José Manuel Barroso.[4]. In 2007, he has been appointed as Chief Government Advisor on Climate and Related Issues during Germany's EU Council Presidency and G8 Presidency.[5]
He has qualifications in mathematics and physics—a Doctorate in Theoretical Physics from the University of Regensburg, which he completed in 1980,[6], followed in 1985 by his habilitation also in theoretical physics at the University of Regensburg. In 1981 he was recruited as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, working across the corridor from its director Walter Kohn who became one of his academic teachers.[7]. Kohn was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1998. From solid state physics and quantum mechanics John Schellnhubers interest was drawn to complex systems and nonlinearity or chaos theory.[8]. This is what later on led him to do research on the climate system. Having become a full professor for Theoretical Physics at the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment at Oldenburg University in northern Germany[9], he was involved in analysing the complex structure of ocean currents. In 1991 he was called upon to create PIK before becoming its director in 1993. He is a professor at the University of Potsdam, Germany[10], and an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute in the US[11]. The National Academy of Sciences (US) appointed him as a member in 2005.[12] He also has been elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.[13]
He was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2004.[14] He was awarded the German Environment Prize in 2007.
He has signed the Potsdam Denkschrift calling for a change in thinking to enable sustainable development. Schellnhuber was 'coordinating lead author of the synthesis chapter of Working Group II' of the Third Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.[6] John warns of dire consequences of continued global warming [15] He is an expert[16] on climatological tipping points and a public speaker on the subject.[15][17][18][19][20]
He is married to Margret Boysen.[21]
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/6/1786 (a pioneering article on the issue of 'tipping elements' in the Earth system)