CORVALLIS, Ore. - Edward Brook, a professor of geosciences at Oregon State University, has been named one of 21 Google Science Communication Fellows in the United States, an initiative that will be focused on improving national communication about climate change.

Brook is an international leader in paleoclimatology and geochemistry, in particular the use of trace gases trapped in ancient ice cores to better understand past climate changes and shed light on what may occur in the future.

He has helped direct drilling programs in both Antarctica and Greenland, studied past changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and just recently was a co-principal investigator on a project in Antarctica that completed the longest ice core ever drilled by U.S. scientists.

Google officials said the goal is a more open, transparent and accessible scientific dialogue, which will use new types of technology and media in its communication efforts. Those chosen for these fellowships were scientists who are already experienced in science communication and doing significant research in understanding or managing climate change, they said.

Additional training, a workshop, and grants to improve science communication efforts will all be part of the program, officials said, and some researchers will join expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctica or the Galapagos Islands as a science communicator.

Source: 

Carolyn Wilson, 703-292-7469

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