Will Steffen
Encyclopedia
Will Steffen, born 1947, is the executive director of the Australian National University
(ANU) Climate Change Institute. From 1998 to 2004, he was the executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
, a coordinating body of national environmental change organizations based in Stockholm
.
Steffen completed a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri
in 1970. The University of Florida
awarded him an MSc in 1972 and a PhD in 1975. He is widely published on climate science. His research interests range over climate change
and Earth system science
issues, with a focus on sustainability
. He has written on adapting land use
to climate change, bringing human processes into the modelling and analysis of the Earth system, and the history of and future prospects for the relationship between the natural world and humans. Steffen has also been prominent advocating along with Paul Crutzen the concept of the Anthropocene
, and initiating along with Johan Rockström
an international debate on planetary boundaries
and the "safe operating space" for humanity.
Steffen served as science adviser to the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. He has been a member of the advisory board of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and worked with the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council. He was also on an advisory panel in Colorado with the National Center for Atmospheric Research
.
Currently, Steffen is on the Science Advisory Committee of the APEC Climate Centre in Korea. He is honorary professor at the Copenhagen University’s Department of Geography and Geology and visiting researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre
. He also sits on the Australian Climate Commission, is the chair of the Federal Government’s Antarctic Science Advisory Committee, and advises the Australian Government in further roles as scientific adviser to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and as expert adviser to the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee.
In 2011 he was the principle author of a controversial government climate report, The Critical Decade, which advocated a tax should be placed on carbon.
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
(ANU) Climate Change Institute. From 1998 to 2004, he was the executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme is a research programme that studies the phenomenon of global change.The International Council of Scientific Unions, a coordinating body of national science organizations, launched IGBP in 1986...
, a coordinating body of national environmental change organizations based in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
Steffen completed a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in 1970. The University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
awarded him an MSc in 1972 and a PhD in 1975. He is widely published on climate science. His research interests range over climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and Earth system science
Earth system science
Earth system science seeks to integrate various fields of academic study to understand the Earth as a system. It considers interaction between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere , biosphere, and heliosphere....
issues, with a focus on sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
. He has written on adapting land use
Land use
Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...
to climate change, bringing human processes into the modelling and analysis of the Earth system, and the history of and future prospects for the relationship between the natural world and humans. Steffen has also been prominent advocating along with Paul Crutzen the concept of the Anthropocene
Anthropocene
The Anthropocene is a recent and informal geologic chronological term that serves to mark the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems...
, and initiating along with Johan Rockström
Johan Rockström
Johan Rockström is executive director of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and teaches natural resource management at Stockholm University...
an international debate on planetary boundaries
Planetary boundaries
Planetary boundaries is the central concept in an Earth system framework proposed by a group of Earth system and environmental scientists led by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University...
and the "safe operating space" for humanity.
Steffen served as science adviser to the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. He has been a member of the advisory board of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and worked with the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council. He was also on an advisory panel in Colorado with the National Center for Atmospheric Research
National Center for Atmospheric Research
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has multiple facilities, including the I. M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. NCAR is managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation...
.
Currently, Steffen is on the Science Advisory Committee of the APEC Climate Centre in Korea. He is honorary professor at the Copenhagen University’s Department of Geography and Geology and visiting researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre
Stockholm Resilience Centre
The Stockholm Resilience Centre is an international research centre at Stockholm University that focuses on the resilience of social-ecological systems....
. He also sits on the Australian Climate Commission, is the chair of the Federal Government’s Antarctic Science Advisory Committee, and advises the Australian Government in further roles as scientific adviser to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and as expert adviser to the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee.
In 2011 he was the principle author of a controversial government climate report, The Critical Decade, which advocated a tax should be placed on carbon.
Some recent publications
- Steffen W, Rockström J and Costanza R (2011) "How defining planetary boundaries can transform our approach to growth" Solutions, 2(3).
- Steffen W, Grinevald J, Crutzen P and McNeill J (2011) "The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives" Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. 369(1938): 842–867.
- Steffen W (ed.) (2010) Australia's Biodiversity and Climate Change Csiro Publishing. ISBN 9780643096059.
- Zalasiewicz J, Williams M, Steffen W and Crutzen P (2010) "The new world of the Anthropocene" Environmental Science & Technology, 44(7): 2228–2231.
- Steffen W (2008) "Looking Back to the Future" Ambio, 37(14): 507–513.
- Steffen W, Crutzen P, McNeill J and Hibbard KA (2008) "Stages of the Anthropocene: Assessing the Human Impact on the Earth System" American Geophysical Union, Annual Meeting 2008, abstract #GC22B-01.
- Robin L and Steffen W (2007) "History for the Anthropocene" History Compass, 5(5): 1694–1719.
- Costanza R, Graumlich L and Steffen W (eds) (2007) Integrated History and Future of People on Earth MIT Press. ISBN 9780262033664.
- Steffen, W (2005) Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under Pressure Birkhäuser. ISBN 9783540265948.
- Gordon LJ, Steffen W, Jönsson BF, Folke C, Falkenmark M and Johannessen Å (2005) "Human modification of global water vapor flows from the land surface" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 102: 7612–7617.
- Steffen W, Andreae MO, Bolin B, Cox P, Crutzen PJ, Cubasch U, Nakicenovic N, Talaue-McManus L and Turner II BL (2004) "Group Report: Earth system dynamics in the Anthropocene" In: Schellnhuber H-J, Earth system analysis for sustainability, pages 313–340, MIT Press, ISBN 9780262195133.
- Steffen W, Andreae MO, Bolin B, Crutzen PJ, Cox P, Cubasch U, Held H, Nakicenovic N, Scholes R, Talaue-McManus L and Turner II BL (2004) "Abrupt changes: the Achilles heels of the Earth System" Environment, 46(3): 9–20.
- Steffen W and Lambin E (2004) "Earth System Functioning in the Anthropocene: Human Impacts on the Global Environment" Pages 112–144 in: Interactions between global change and human health, Working group 2004, Pontificiae Academiae Scientiarum, Scripta Varia 106. ISBN 9788877610850.
- Crutzen P and Steffen W (2003) "How Long Have We Been in the Anthropocene Era?" Climatic Change, Editorial Comment.61(3): 251–257.
External links
- Dr William Steffen Australian National University
- Profile: Will Steffen Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 2011.
- Whiteboard seminar with Will Steffen: Planetary boundaries on climate change and land change Stockholm Resilience Centre. Updated 23 September 2009.
- Professor Will Steffen Australian Climate Commission
- Nature as a model for economic systems Beyond the Line .
- Professor Will Steffen joins Lateline Lateline. 11 March 2009
- Will Steffen - The Anthropocene TED video.
- Will Steffen - Shaping Ideas YouTube video.