Camille Parmesan
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Topic - 2008: Alternative Energy
Dr. Camille Parmesan received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. She then took a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, California. She is currently an Associate Professor in Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Parmesan’s early research spanned multiple aspects of the behavior, ecology and evolution of insect/plant interactions in natural systems. Since 1992, however, the focus of her work has been on biological impacts of anthropogenic climate change in natural systems. Her field work has focused on documenting northward and upward range shifts of butterfly species across both North America and Europe. Her more recent research has concentrated on global-scale syntheses of biological responses to climate change across all taxonomic groups. These syntheses have documented the global nature of climate change impacts, spanning all living organisms from microbes to charismatic animals in terrestrial, freshwater and marine systems.
The intensification of global warming as an international issue led Dr. Parmesan into the interface of policy and science. She has given presentations in DC for White House and Congressional seminar series and is currently involved in synthesis reports for the US Climate Change Strategic Plan. In addition, Parmesan has given formal testimonies before the US House Select Committe on Energy Independence and Global Warming, as well as the Texas Senate Natural Resources Committee. She has also been active in climate change programs for international Conservation organizations, such as IUCN (the World Conservation Union), the WWF (World-Wildlife fund), the National Wildlife Federation, and was on the Science Council of the Nature Conservancy from 2005-2007. She was a Lead Author and Contributing author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 3rd Report (2001), as well as Reviewer and Co-author of the Uncertainty Guidance Report for the IPCC 4th Report (2007). She is a group-awardee of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was given to the IPCC in 2007. In 2007, Parmesan received three awards of distinction for her work in climate change and conservation: the National Wildlife Federation’s Conservation Achievement Award in Science; named as "Outstanding Woman Working on Climate Change," by IUCN (the World Conservation Union); and named as “Who’s Who of Women and the Environment” by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in honor of “International Women’s Day” (2007). Her work has been highlighted in hundreds of scientific and popular press reports, such as in Science News, the New York Times, the London Times, National Geographic, Audubon magazine, National Public Radio, the BBC film series "State of the Planet" with David Attenborough, CBS Evening News, ABC Nightline with Peter Jennings, and ABC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.