Lupo Nobel Prize
Published December 2007
Story Source: Christine Tew, SNR NEWS@Missouri.edu
While there is no Nobel Peace Prize in meteorology, one associate professor in the School of Natural Resources can add that laurel to his office walls.
Tony Lupo, from the Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences Department, shares in the 2007 prize awarded to former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Lupo does not know if he will receive individual recognition from the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, but said that he is excited and honored to be part of the IPCC team.
"It's been a neat experience because I never thought that any work that I had done would be associated with a Nobel Prize," he said.
"It is also humbling because winning an award doesn't mean that you've figured it all out," Lupo said. "There is still much to be learned about how the climate works and how it will change in the future."
The award recognized collective efforts in research and communication to raise awareness about global climate change. This is the first time the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded for work on an environmental issue, according to a press release from the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Lupo's research on climate in the mid-Western U.S. contributed to the IPCC report that earned this recognition. The IPCC has compiled four reports since 1990.
"I've been a reviewer for the last three of those reports, as well as a contributing author," Lupo said. "My work has been cited in those reports, as well. That was my contribution."
The IPCC is an international organization of roughly 2500 scientists, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The group formed in 1988 and merges many perspectives on climate change, Lupo said.
"There is definitely a range of opinion within the IPCC," he said, "from folks that agree that the climate is warming but that there is no way to define the cause, to those that are firmly committed to the idea that humanity is the primary cause."
"I would consider myself to be one of those scientists who is a little bit skeptical about humanity being a primary factor in climate change," he said. "We may be a factor, but it is difficult to quantify."
Lupo's research areas within the Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences Department in the School of Natural Resources include climate variability in the jet stream and snowfall in the Midwest.
The research in his contribution comes from partnerships in Climate Change Group, a student research team Lupo leads on campus. Students at all levels have the opportunity to study climate change and warming.
"The work of mine that has been cited has had some of my graduate and some of my undergraduate students involved," he said. "That led to publications for those students, as well."
