Geosciences Prof. Broecker Receives $500,000 Award

Professor Wallace Broecker of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory received the Crafoord Prize in Geosciences last Wednesday, Jan. 17. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Broecker the annual $500,000 prize for his work on global carbon systems and the ocean.

Broecker will receive his prize in Lund, Sweden, on April 26 from Queen Silvia of Sweden. Broecker said that he is unsure what he will do with the prize money but that it will most likely go toward "supporting my great-grandchildren and grandchildren's education."

In addition to examining the global carbon cycle in the ocean-atmosphere-biosphere system and its relationship to the climate, Broecker has done studies of how large-scale circulation of ocean currents distribute heat, which in turn affect the climate. His research has laid much of the groundwork for the understanding of the greenhouse effect and climate changes.

"His work has indeed been fundamental and among the earliest work relating ocean circulation to the atmosphere and the drastic influence it has," said Professor David Helfand, chair of the University's department of astronomy and co-chair of Frontiers of Science, adding that he was delighted that Broecker received the award.

Hefland said that Broecker is often invited to speak to Frontiers of Science students. "He was part of the very first pilot program of Frontiers of Science, in part because of his interest of doing it and in part because of the work he's done," Helfand said.

Lusia Zaitseva, CC '10, a former Frontiers of Science student, said that Broecker's lectures made her think about her responsibilities.

"I was in awe of being lectured by such a renowned researcher," Zaitseva said. "He made me think it was possible to live the way we do but still take responsibility for our planet."