This website focuses on the work of Dr. Joel D. Scheraga. It is intended as a resource for researchers, policymakers,            teachers, and the general public interested in issues related to environmental protection, particularly climate change.

Scheraga Named Fellow of the Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy

On June 23, 2008, Joel Scheraga was welcomed as an inaugural Fellow of the Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy (ISTPP) in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University by Dr. Arnold Vedlitz (Director). The ISTPP Fellows program recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to the development of the Institute and to its mission, aims, and objectives. Participation as an ISTPP Fellow is by invitation from ISTPP.  Scheraga was selected based upon current and past collaboration on interdisciplinary proposals, projects, and scholarship with the Institute, as well as his distinguished accomplishments within his discipline.

New Report Released by the U.S. EPA on Climate Change and Human Health

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report on July 17, 2008, entitled, Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems. Production of the report was coordinated by EPA's Global Change Research Program. The report was produced by a team of EPA scientists and other experts from academia, government, and the private sector.

The report concludes that climate change poses real risks to human health and the human systems that support our way of life in the United States. It contains timely and useful information for state and local policy makers already coping with a changing climate, in places like Alaska. And it identifies many opportunities for actions that could minimize the adverse impacts of climate change. It also emphasizes the challenges to adapting effectively, while recognizing the inability to adapt at all in some cases.

Press coverage of the release of the report can be found at Reuters.

2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore Jr. for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change. In making the award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that through the scientific reports it has issued over the past two decades, the IPCC has created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming. Thousands of scientists and officials from over one hundred countries have collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming.

Joel Scheraga's Contributions to the IPCC

Joel Scheraga has contributed to several IPCC Assessments. He was a Lead Author of the 1997 IPCC North American Regional Assessment. In 1995, he was a Contributing Author to the Working Group II chapter on “Technical Guidelines for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations” that appeared in the IPCC Second Assessment Report. He also served as an Expert Reviewer of the Second Assessment Report. And he served as an Assisting Lead Author for the 1994 IPCC Technical Guidelines for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations.        

EPA Administrator Recognizes EPA Nobel Peace Prize Honorees

Stephen L. Johnson, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recognized Joel Scheraga, and 27 other scientists, as EPA Nobel Peace Prize Honorees on November 26, 2007. In a memorandum sent to all EPA employees, the Administrator noted that the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize “was shared by former Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose contributors included a number of EPA’s world-class experts.” He went on to say, “I would like to applaud those EPA experts who have been honored by the Nobel Committee for their substantial contributions to the work of the IPCC.”

"Opportunities to Anticipate and Adapt to the Effects of Climate Change on Water Quality"

This background paper was prepared for the National Summit on Coping with Climate Change, hosted by the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment on May 8-10, 2007. The paper presents an introduction to the potential effects of climate change on water quality, and the opportunities that exist for water resource managers to anticipate and adapt to a changing climate.  Read more... 

Learn more about the Global Program Scheraga manages

EPA’s Global Change Research Program is stakeholder-oriented, with primary emphasis on assessing the potential consequences of global change (particularly climate variability and change) on air quality, water quality, aquatic ecosystems, human health, and socioeconomic systems in the United States. EPA uses the results of these studies to investigate adaptation options to improve society’s ability to effectively respond to the risks and opportunities presented by global change, and to develop decision support tools for resource managers coping with a changing climate. The program is multidisciplinary and emphasizes the integration of the concepts, methods, and results of the physical, biological, and social sciences into decision-support frameworks.  Read more...