Naomi Oreskes
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Naomi Oreskes (; born November 25, 1958) is an American
historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...
. She became Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 2013, after 15 years as Professor of History and Science Studies at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
. She has worked on studies of
geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...
, environmental issues such as
global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
, and the
history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...
. In 2010, Oreskes co-authored '' Merchants of Doubt,'' which identified some parallels between the
climate change debate There are past and present public debates over certain aspects of climate change: how much has occurred in modern times, what causes it, what its effects will be, and what action should be taken to curb it now or later, and so forth. In the sc ...
and earlier public controversies, notably the tobacco industry's campaign to obscure the link between smoking and serious disease.


Early life and education

Oreskes is the daughter of Susan Eileen (née Nagin), a teacher,New York Times: "Geraldine Baum, Reporter, Marries"
September 24, 1989
and Irwin Oreskes, a professor of medical laboratory sciences and former dean of the School of Health Sciences at
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
in New York.City University of New York: "Irwin Oreskes, Professor Emeritus at NYC’s Hunter College who Taught Lab Science Dies at 86"
March 4, 2013 , ''"Besides Michael Oreskes, Irwin Oreskes also is survived by his wife, Susan Oreskes; his other children, Naomi Oreskes, a science historian, Daniel Oreskes, an actor, and Rebecca Oreskes, a writer and former ranger with the U.S. Forest Service, and five grandchildren. His funeral will be held on Sunday at Jewish Community Chapel"''

June 4, 1964 , ''"... devoted father of Susan Oreskes and the late Richard Nagin, loving grandfather of Iris Nagin, Michael, Daniel, Naomi and Rebecca Oreskes...Services at Riverside Memorial Chapel..."''
She has three siblings: Michael Oreskes, a journalist; Daniel Oreskes, an actor; and Rebecca Oreskes, a writer and former U.S. Forest Service ranger. She is
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. She studied at
Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...
, New York, and received her
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in
mining geology Mining geology is an applied science which combines the principles of economic geology and mining engineering to the development of a defined mineral resource. Mining geologists and engineers work to develop an identified ore deposit to economica ...
from the Royal School of Mines of
Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...
,
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
in 1981. She later received her PhD degree in the
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
Graduate Special Program in Geological Research and
History of Science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...
.


Career

Oreskes has worked as a consultant for the
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
and US National Academy of Sciences, and has also taught at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
,
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
,
UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing ...
and
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. She is the author of or has contributed to a number of essays and technical reports in
economic geology Economic geology is concerned with earth materials that can be used for economic and industrial purposes. These materials include precious and base metals, nonmetallic minerals and dimension stone, construction-grade stone. Economic geology is a ...
and
history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...
in addition to several books.


Academics

Oreskes' academic career started in geology, then broadened into history and philosophy of science. Her work was concerned with scientific methods, model validation, consensus, dissent, as in 2 books on the often-misunderstood history of continental drift and plate tectonics. She later focused on climate change science and studied the doubt-creation industry opposing it. She worked as a mining geologist for WMC (Western Mining Company) in outback South Australia, based in
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
. Starting in 1984, she returned to academia as a research assistant in the Geology Department and as a teaching assistant in the departments of Geology, Philosophy and Applied Earth Sciences at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. The 1992 Hitzman-Oreskes-Einaudi paper on Cu-U-Au-REE ("Olympic Dam") deposits has been cited more than 700 times, according to Google Scholar. She received a
National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
's Young Investigator Award in 1994. During 1991–1996, she was an Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences and Adjunct Asst. Professor of History at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She spent 1996–1998 as Associate Professor, History and Philosophy of Science at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University. As an example of studying scientific methods, she wrote on model validation in the
Earth sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...
, cited more than 3200 times according to Google Scholar. She moved to
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
in 1998 as associate professor in the Department of History and Program in Science Studies, then as professor in that department 2005–2013, as well as adjunct professor of Geosciences (since 2007). She was named provost of the Sixth College 2008–2011. In 1999, she participated as a consultant to the US Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board for developing a
repository Repository may refer to: Archives and online databases * Content repository, a database with an associated set of data management tools, allowing application-independent access to the content * Disciplinary repository (or subject repository), an ...
safety strategy for the Yucca Mountain project, with special attention to model validation. Since 2013, Oreskes has served as a professor at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in the Department of the History of Science and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (by courtesy). Since 2017, she has been listed on the board of directors of the
National Center for Science Education The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of con ...
. Oreskes is on the board of directors of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund.


Science and society essay

Oreskes wrote an essay "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change", published in the science and society section of the journal ''
Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
'' in December 2004. In the essay she reported an analysis of "928 abstracts, published in refereed scientific journals between 1993 and 2003 and published in the ISI database with the keywords 'global climate change'". The essay stated the analysis was to test the hypothesis that the drafting of reports and statements by societies such as the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...
,
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
and
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
might downplay legitimate dissenting opinions on
anthropogenic climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
. After the analysis, she concluded that 75 percent of the examined abstracts either explicitly or implicitly backed the consensus view, while none directly dissented from it. The essay received a great deal of media attention from around the world and has been cited by many prominent persons such as
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
in the movie ''
An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former vice president of the United States Al Gore's campaign to educate people about Climate change, global warming. The film features a slide s ...
''. In 2007, Oreskes expanded her analysis, stating that approximately 20 percent of abstracts explicitly endorsed the consensus on climate change that: "Earth's climate is being affected by human activities". In addition, 55 percent of abstracts "implicitly" endorsed the consensus by engaging in research to characterize the ongoing and/or future impact of climate change (50 percent of abstracts) or to mitigate predicted changes (5 percent). The remaining 25 percent focused on either
paleoclimate Paleoclimatology ( British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the scientific study of climates predating the invention of meteorological instruments, when no direct measurement data were available. As instrumental records only span a tiny part of ...
(10%) or developing measurement techniques (15%); Oreskes did not classify these as taking a position on contemporary global climate change.


''Merchants of Doubt''

''Merchants of Doubt'' is a 2010 book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. Oreskes and Conway, both American historians of science, identify some remarkable parallels between the
climate change debate There are past and present public debates over certain aspects of climate change: how much has occurred in modern times, what causes it, what its effects will be, and what action should be taken to curb it now or later, and so forth. In the sc ...
and earlier controversies over
tobacco smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed to hav ...
,
acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists b ...
, and the hole in the ozone layer. They argue that spreading doubt and confusion was the basic strategy of those opposing action in each case. In particular, Fred Seitz, Fred Singer, and a few other contrarian scientists joined forces with conservative
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
s and private corporations to challenge the scientific consensus on many contemporary issues. Most reviewers received it "enthusiastically". One reviewer said that ''Merchants of Doubt'' is exhaustively researched and documented and may be one of the most important books of 2010. Another reviewer saw the book as his choice for best science book of the year. A film with the same name, inspired by the book, was released in 2015. Other film released in 2020 was ''The Campaign Against the Climate'', a
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
directed by the Danish journalist and filmmaker Mads Ellesøe.


Controversies

Together with Erik Conway and Matthew Shindell, in 2008, Oreskes wrote the paper "From Chicken Little to Dr. Pangloss: William Nierenberg, Global Warming, and the Social Deconstruction of Scientific Knowledge" which argued that William Nierenberg as chairman reframed a
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
committee report on climate change in 1983 into economic terms to avoid action on the topic. Nierenberg died in 2000 but his son co-authored a rebuttal published in 2010 in the same journal which said the paper contradicted the historical report and there was no evidence that any committee members disagreed with the report; the evidence was that the report reflected the consensus at the time. In 2015, Oreskes published an opinion piece in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', titled "There is a New Form of Climate Denialism to Look Out For – So Don't Celebrate Yet", in which she said scientists who call for a continued use of nuclear energy are renewable-energy "deniers" and "myth" makers. She cited an article by four prominent climate scientists (
James Hansen James Edward Hansen (born March 29, 1941) is an American climatologist. He is an adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the The Earth Institute, Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best ...
, Ken Caldeira, Kerry Emanuel and
Tom Wigley Tom Michael Lampe Wigley is a climate scientist at the University of Adelaide. He is also affiliated with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR, Boulder, CO). He was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advanc ...
) saying nuclear power must be used to combat climate change. An opinion piece by Michael Specter in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' asserted that she had branded these four scientists as "climate deniers", and that her characterization was absurd, as they were among those who had done the most to push people to combat climate change. In 2015, news outlets reported that
ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...
scientists had found evidence for climate change, but had nonetheless continued to raise doubts about it, a charge that Oreskes also reported. The company criticized Oreskes and invited her and the public to read approximately 187 documents written between 1977 and 2014. She and Geoffrey Supran did so, and reported their findings, which supported the original accounts, in the peer-reviewed journal '' Environmental Research Letters'' in 2017.


Writings


Books


''Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don't Know about the Ocean''
University of Chicago Press, 2020,
''Why Trust Science?''
Princeton University Press, 2019, Edited by Stephen Macedo,
''The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science''
Oxford University Press, 1999,
''Plate Tectonics: An Insider’s History of the Modern Theory of the Earth''
Edited with Homer Le Grand, Westview Press, 2003, *''Perspectives on Geophysics,'' Special Issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 31B, Oreskes, Naomi and James R. Fleming, eds., 2000. *'' Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming'', Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, Bloomsbury Press, 2010
''The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future''
Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway,
Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
, 2014 * ''Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality: On Care for Our Common Home'',
Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
, introduction by Naomi Oreskes, (Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2015)
''Discerning Experts: The Practices of Scientific Assessment for Environmental Policy''
Michael Oppenheimer, N. Oreskes, D. Jamieson, K. Brysse, J. O’Reilly & M. Shindell, University of Chicago Press, 2019, * '' The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market''. Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023.


Papers

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Cook, J., Supran, G., Lewandowsky, S., Oreskes, N., & Maibach, E., (2019)
America Misled: How the fossil fuel industry deliberately misled Americans about climate change
Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.


Editorials and opinion articles

* Oreskes, Naomi, "Masked Confusion: A trusted source of health information misleads the public by prioritizing rigor over reality", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'', vol. 329, no. 4 (November 2023), pp. 90–91. * Oreskes, Naomi, "Furious about
Firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...
s: Outrage, not hope, will move us to prevent
gun violence Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...
", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'', vol. 329, no. 1 (July/August 2023), p. 96. * Oreskes, Naomi, "Fusion's False Promise: Despite a recent advance,
nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the rele ...
is not the solution to the
climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...
", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'', vol. 328, no. 6 (June 2023), p. 86. * Oreskes, Naomi, "Social Security and Science: Attacks on the program rest on false 'facts' similar to ones used against climate change action", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'', vol. 328, no. 5 (May 2023), p. 86. * Oreskes, Naomi, "The Eight-Billion-Person Bomb: A surging population – and the planet – cannot survive without help", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'', vol. 328, no. 3 (March 2023), p. 76. * Oreskes, Naomi, "Breaking the Techno-Promise: We do not have enough time for
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
to save us from the
climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...
," ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'', vol. 326, no. 2 (February 2022), p. 74. * Oreskes, Naomi, "History Matters to Science: It helps to explain how cynical actors undermine the truth", ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
'', vol. 323, no. 6 (December 2020), p. 81. "In our 2010 book, '' Merchants of Doubt'', Erik M. Conway and I showed how the same arguments s those used to cast doubt on the link between tobacco use and lung cancer">tobacco.html" ;"title="s those used to cast doubt on the link between tobacco">s those used to cast doubt on the link between tobacco use and lung cancer] were used to delay action on
acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists b ...
, the
ozone hole Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a lowered total amount of ozone in Earth, Earth's upper atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar ...
and
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
– and this year 020we saw the spurious "freedom" argument being used to disparage mask wearing uring the COVID-19 pandemic">COVID-19_pandemic.html" ;"title="uring the COVID-19 pandemic">uring the COVID-19 pandemic" * * * * * * * * * * *


Selected awards, honors, and fellowships

* Honorary degree from Bard College (2024) * Honorary degree, Université libre de Bruxelles, 2023. * Honorary degree ETH Zurich, 2018. * The British Academy Medal, 2019 * Mary C. Rabbit Award (History and Philosophy of Geology Division),
Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...
, 2019 * Elected Member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
, 2019 * Guggenheim Fellow, 2018-2019,
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...
, * Elected Member of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
, 2017 * Plenary Speaker,
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
, 2017 * Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication, Climate One, 2016 * Ambassador and Fellow,
American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...
, 2016 * Frederick Anderson Climate Change Award,
Center for International Environmental Law The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) is a public nonprofit environmental law organization based in Washington, DC, with an office in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1989. CIEL's team aims to use "the power of law to protec ...
, 2016 * Convocation Speaker, The
Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...
, Olympia and Tacoma, Washington, 2016 * Public Service Award,
Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...
, 2015 * Elected a Fellow of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...
, 2015 * William T. Patten Visiting Lectureship,
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
, March 2015 * Herbert Feis Prize for Public History,
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...
2014 * Forum for the History of Science in America Distinguished Lecture
History of Science Society The History of Science Society (HSS), founded in 1924, is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. The society has over 3,000 members worldwide. It publishes the quarterly journal ''Isis'' and the yearly ...
2014 * Presidential Citation for Science and Society
American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...
2014 * Commencement Speaker
University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...
2012 * Climate Change Communicator of the Year, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, 2011 * Francis Bacon Award in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology,
Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...
2008 * Chancellors Associates’ Faculty Excellence Award for Community Service
UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing ...
2008 * Listed, Who's Who in American Science and Engineering, Who's Who in the West * George Sarton Award Lecture, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2004 * American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Fellowship, 2001–2002 * Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize for "Objectivity or Heroism? On the Invisibility of Women in Science," Osiris, 1996, 11: 87–113, awarded 2000 * National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, 1994–1999 * Ritter Memorial Fellowship in History of Marine Sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1994 * National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers, 1993-94 * Society of Economic Geologists Lindgren Prize for outstanding work by a young scientist, 1993


See also

* *
Logology (science of science) Logology is the study of all things related to science and its scientist, practitioners—philosophy of science, philosophical, biological, psychology of science, psychological, sociology of science, societal, history of science, historical, poli ...


References


External links


Oreskes' home page
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
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''Why we should believe in science''
Lecture in TED-Salon, New York, May 2014.
''The Collapse of Western Civilization''
''The Science Show'', ABC Radio National, 16 August 2014.
''SILA – The Competing Interests Shaping the Future of our Planet''
Panel Discussion,
American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other F ...
, 18 March 2014.
Transcript
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‘I Can’t Just Stand on the Sidelines’: An Interview with Naomi Oreskes
by Claudia Dreifus October 18, 2019 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oreskes, Naomi American historians of science American science writers American non-fiction environmental writers Scientific American people American climate activists American women earth scientists American women historians American social historians 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Dartmouth College faculty Harvard University Department of History faculty New York University faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society Activists from California Historians from New York (state) Alumni of Imperial College London Stanford University alumni Stuyvesant High School alumni 1958 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people)