Feature

How to Discuss Kanye’s Mental Health?

Serious Issue Ignored, Joked About, Excused

Ebony Misses $80,000 Payment Due Writers

‘Close to 400’ Fill Out ASNE Diversity Survey

Media Fell for Sanitized Version of Saudi Prince

Don’t Miss Covering Biggest Story of Our Time

Michaela Pereira Out at HLN in Format Change

Short Takes

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Kanye West embraces President Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday. (Credit: Pool photo by Oliver Contreras)
Kanye West embraces President Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday. (Credit: Pool photo by Oliver Contreras)

Serious Issue Ignored, Joked About, Excused

Kayne West’s bizarre performance at the White House last Thursday was so entertaining, so outrageous, so unusual that it had to be covered. But the rapper’s nearly 10-minute tirade posed a dilemma for some: How much to emphasize West’s mental condition and how to contextualize it.

Now some are saying that many in the media got it wrong.

Kim Kardashian is trying her best to be supportive of Kanye West, but his public rants are negatively affecting the mother of three,” Natalie Stone wrote Friday for People magazine.

“ ‘Kim is very uncomfortable and unhappy with the whole situation,’ a source tells PEOPLE about the Kimoji creator, who shares daughters North, 5, and Chicago, 8 months, and son Saint, 2½, with West.

“ ‘She finds Kanye brilliant, so it makes her upset when he goes on these public rants and come across as someone who isn’t well,’ says the source. . . .”

During his White House rant, West said, “I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I was connected with a neuropsychologist that works with the athletes in the NBA and the NFL. And he looked at my brain — it’s equal on three parts. I’m going to go ahead drop some bombs for you — 98 percentile IQ test. I had a 75 percentile of all human beings, but it was counting eight numbers backwards, (inaudible), so I’m going to work on that one. The other ones, 98 percent — Tesla, Freud.

“So he said that I actually wasn’t bipolar; I had sleep deprivation, which could cause dementia 10 to 20 years from now, where I wouldn’t even remember my son’s name. So all this power that I got, and I’m taking my son to the Sox game and all that, I wouldn’t be able to remember his name from a misdiagnosis. . . .”

Writing in the Daily Beast, Marlow Stern asserted Friday, “While there are legitimate gripes to be had with West and his puzzling contradictions . . . late-night comedians and cable-news pundits have resorted to cruelly mocking West’s mental health and even invoking his dead mother.

“On Thursday night, Jimmy Kimmel gleefully branded West ‘an irrational madman,’ describing the Trump-West exchange as ‘the kind of conversation that would typically be held between people wearing hospital bracelets.’ The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah called West ‘a ranting lunatic.’ And CNN’s Don Lemon said that ‘Kanye’s mother is rolling over in her grave.’ These comments echo the ugly criticisms lobbed West’s way back in April, when The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert argued that the music legend had ‘finally lost his mind,’ and New York magazine somehow involved his young children. . . .”

On the Intercept, Glen Greenwald pointed a finger at CNN. “On Monday night, CNN host Don Lemon led a panel discussion with three CNN commentators as they gleefully heaped scorn on Kanye West for meeting with President Trump to discuss prison reform and for otherwise expressing support for the President (the video is below),” Greenwald wrote Thursday. “Among other things, West was pilloried for being both ignorant and exploited. ‘Kanye West is what happens when Negroes don’t read,’ CNN’s Bakari Sellers said. CNN’s Tara Setmayer pronounced him ‘the token Negro of the Trump administration.’

“While those comments received some attention (only from conservative outlets, needless to say), the laughter-driven attacks on West for his well-publicized medical treatment for mental health issues were largely ignored. But those comments, broadcast in prime-time by CNN on television and then widely disseminated by the network on social media, were not just reprehensible, but genuinely dangerous. . . .

“That was precisely the stigma that CNN and its various personalities exploited, played with and strengthened by weaponizing West’s medical treatment against him, using it to disqualify him as someone who can be regarded as credible or serious. . . .”

However, if West’s mental condition is being trivialized, the rapper himself shares some of the blame, according to Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page. Writing on Oct. 5 about West’s new album, “Ye,” Page noted, “On the track ‘Yikes,’ he raps that his ‘bipolar (barnyard epithet)’ is ‘my superpower, ain’t no disability, I’m a superhero! I’m a superhero.’ And the album cover has a photo of mountains in Wyoming behind the handwritten words ‘I hate being Bi-Polar it’s awesome.’

“As with his remarks on other touchy topics, mental health experts warn that people could take his words as a trivialization of a complex disorder about which too many people already know too little.

“Ironically and coincidentally, the first full week of October happens to be Mental Illness Awareness Week, officially established by Congress. That makes this a particularly appropriate time for Ye, the great attention magnet, to show the world how mental illness is a very serious condition that, with good information and treatment, doesn’t have to stop anyone from being a superstar.”

Few would argue that West did so at the White House.

Many news stories downplayed West’s mental issues, while some commentators argued that they were tolerated for the sake of politics.

Tony Norman wrote Friday in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “If this had been an episode of ‘Black Mirror,’ audiences would’ve clicked away because there’s no way a president’s chief of staff in this universe would have allowed cameras to record a mentally ill rapper pounding the desk of a narcissistic president. That’s too much cognitive dissonance even for the most fantastical science-fiction program. . . .”

Norman also wrote, “Now, imagine Kanye West doing the same song and dance routine for President Barack Obama. It’s inconceivable that it would have been tolerated. No one at Fox News would have given Kanye a pass — or Mr. Obama — had he banged on the president’s desk. Many entertainers, from Bob Dylan and Lin-Manuel Miranda to Jay-Z and Aretha Franklin, visited the Obama White House, but there was never anything like Thursday afternoon’s descent into madness. . . .”

Ebony Misses $80,000 Payment Due Writers

October issue
October issue

Ebony Media Organization (EMO) and its parent Clear View Group (CVG) have failed to honor the terms of a February agreement with the National Writers Union (NWU/UAW) and 44 freelancer writers for about $80,000 for unpaid work that was contracted and published,” the union announced on Tuesday.

“The union filed a case in Cook County Court against EMO and CVG in September, 2017. In February, 2018, EMO and CVG signed an agreement to make four quarterly payments, with the final installment due on or before December 31, 2018. According to the terms of the agreement, Ebony agreed to pay all of the freelancers 100 percent of their unpaid invoices in four quarterly payments, starting with the oldest invoices first. Almost half of the invoices go back to 2016. The payments are guaranteed by Ebony’s ownership group, CVG, who also signed the payment agreement.

“The first and second quarter payments, covering 14 writers for $30,000, were made on time. The third quarter payment, covering another 14 writers for $30,000 was due on September 30, and has not been paid. Efforts to contact EMO and CVG by lawyers for the union have gone unanswered. To date, about one-third of the writers have been paid just over 35% of the total owed.

“NWU President Larry Goldbetter says the union is prepared to file in court to have the agreement enforced if the September payment is not made this week. . . .”

Michael Gibson, chairman and co-founder of Clear View Group, did not respond Monday to an inquiry from Journal-isms.

‘Close to 400’ Fill Out ASNE Diversity Survey

“Close to 400” newspapers and digital media outlets submitted information for the American Society of News Editors annual diversity survey by Friday’s deadline, according to the organization. The survey was delayed this year because only 234 of nearly 1,700 newspapers and digital media outlets submitted data.

Last year, ASNE received responses from 661 news organizations, including 598 newspapers and 63 online-only news websites.

The tally is not complete. “We are giving folks who started the survey but did not finish by Friday some more time to get it done,” messaged Teri Hayt, ASNE’s executive director, on Monday. She said later that the results would be released in early November.

Lead researcher Meredith D. Clark, assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia, added, “Right now we’re close to 400, but the data need cleaning (incomplete surveys, blank surveys, etc.).”

Media Fell for Sanitized Version of Saudi Prince

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Screen shot /Bloomberg)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Screen shot /Bloomberg)

Just six months ago, American media outlets presented a sunny-side-up portrait of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as he made a good-will tour of New York, Hollywood and Silicon Valley,” Jim Rutenberg reported Sunday for the New York Times.

“Eager journalists captured him at Starbucks with Michael R. Bloomberg, strolling the Google grounds with Sergey Brin and dining with Rupert Murdoch. Built into the narrative was a mostly cheerful acceptance of the story Crown Prince Mohammed was selling about himself — that here, at last, was the modern Middle Eastern leader the West had been waiting for.

“That story started to crack apart on Oct. 2, when the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a sharp critic of the Saudi government, walked into the country’s consulate in Istanbul and didn’t walk out. . . .”

Rutenberg also wrote, “None of this is meant to suggest there wasn’t something newsworthy in the crown prince’s moves to reopen theaters and allow women to drive under a more moderate form of Saudi Islam. ‘I never dreamed I would see that — these are huge deals,’ said The Times columnist Tom Friedman, who wrote a column praising Crown Prince [Mohammed] last year, but has also warned that his autocratic side would undercut his efforts if left unchecked.

“It’s just that there’s a streak in American journalism to allow glittering narratives about budding authoritarians to obscure less appealing facts.

“It wasn’t too long ago that Bashar al-Assad captured journalists’ imaginations as a next-gen ruler ready to open Syria to American tech. His wife, Asma, landed a gauzy profile in Vogue in 2011 enthusing over the Assads’ ‘wildly democratic’ home life. Yesterday’s reformer is now ‘the Butcher of Damascus.’

“There was also the civilian leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Prize winner and, potentially, ‘the Mandela of Asia,’ as CNN reported in 2016. Last week, Myanmar arrested three journalists for critical reporting. That followed the sentencing of two of Reuters reporters to seven years in prison.

“Crown Prince [Mohammed] got something last week that those leaders never did — a spot on Vanity Fair’s annual New Establishment List. . . .”

Many communities face heightened risks from rising seas and other climate impacts because of socioeconomic disparities. They deserve equitable funding to help prepare for the growing consequences of climate change. (Union of Concerned Scientists)
Many communities face heightened risks from rising seas and other climate impacts because of socioeconomic disparities. They deserve equitable funding to help prepare for the growing consequences of climate change. Shown is a section of Gulfport, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina. (Union of Concerned Scientists)

Don’t Miss Covering Biggest Story of Our Time

After scientists convened by the United Nations warned last week that the immediate consequences of climate change are more dire than previously thought, Journal-isms asked attendees of this month’s Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Flint, Mich., for their thoughts.

Here is a response from a board member of the society.

By Roger Witherspoon

I’ve been frustrated in trying to get black journalists interested in covering environmental issues — of which climate change is a part — and realizing that professionally, this has the potential to be the top beat in the newsroom. It touches on and incorporates every beat except sports and the arts.

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change is the consensus of the world’s top climate scientists and all the major scientific organizations evaluating portions of the climate change phenomena and its impacts. What was significant about this latest report is that they conclude that time is running out before the earth reaches a “tipping point” and the impacts will be locked in. It is important to delve into what those impacts might be, to what degree will different groups be affected and more importantly, what resources will be brought to bear to aid different segments of the populace.

Roger Witherspoon
Roger Witherspoon

When it comes to the environment, many blacks shrug and wonder at the relevance of issues involving wildlife and forests and arctic glaciers; or the nexus between the need for jobs and assertions that fossil fuels hurt the upper atmosphere. Somehow. In the future. Maybe.

The reality is these issues are connected and affect black Americans in particular.

In April 1993, for example, more than 400,000 Milwaukee residents fell ill and more than 100 died when that city’s water system became contaminated with the parasite cryptosporidium, which penetrated filters in one of the city’s water treatment plants. Later analysis suggested that runoff carried animal waste and effluent from the slaughterhouses, which made its way into the lake providing the region’s drinking water.

That was a relatively rare occurrence. But as the temperature warms, parasites that have a hard time surviving northern winters find it easier to live and thrive in new locales. It is already affecting the nation’s agriculture sector, forcing some farmers to change their crops to better handle changing climate conditions and the pests that thrive in it.

Climate change is a phenomenon with wide-ranging implications. Take the most recent hurricanes, which were notable for their ferocity and the amount of rain they deposited. In southern cities, the black section is usually downwind and in the geologically lowest part of town — hence the almost total flooding of New Orleans’ 9th ward during Hurricane Katrina. It was also the last area of New Orleans whose needs were addressed after the water receded. The jury is out on the recovery of minority communities in Florida and South Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Michael. But it is clear that Michael was stronger than anticipated, and that was due in part to the Gulf waters warmed through global climate change.

Stories about Michael in the national media have focused on how destructive it was. Journalists should focus on how recovery will be made, and what areas will receive what resources in what order. If half a city’s transmission wires are down, which sections will be restored and when? Who makes those decisions? Why? If farmland is damaged, how will the USDA apportion funds and resources for recovery? Whose farms get helped? What networks for what grocery chains are aided? What segments of town and what communities will have their food networks restored? Who makes the decisions and how?

If hurricanes are nature’s way of cooling down the eastern side of a country, what is there for the Left Coast? The persistent drought and heat has turned what had been a short fire season into what threatens to be a nearly year-long, dangerous condition in the Southwest and West. What are the ramifications for agriculture there, and the ensuing price of food? Fires gulping thousands of square miles dump billions of tons of particulates into the air. What is the cost to the lungs of residents in various communities? The increased use of air conditions could help protect vulnerable lungs. But who would pay the additional energy costs?

You wonder about energy? According to the American Association of Blacks in Energy (www.AABE.org), the average black family spends about 25 percent of its income on energy — nearly double the percentage of white families. The type of energy provided, its costs, its effectiveness and its environmental impacts are all of concern to anyone who pays an electric bill. In New York, utilities have to give homeowners an hour-for-hour credit if they have solar energy and are feeding their output into the grid. At the end of the year, when my utility does its annual count of how much electricity I contribute to the system vs. how much I take out, it sends me a check that has been as much as $1,500.

Florida, which has more sunny days than New York, doesn’t have that arrangement because its Republican governor claims there isn’t enough sunlight to make such a system work in the Sunshine State. Instead, ratepayers in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have been charged billions of dollars for the development of nuclear power plants. These will not be built in South Carolina and Florida, and the jury is out on the Georgia plants — but the charges continue and they do not have a solar alternative.

Compare the average electric bill in South Carolina, which is among the highest in the nation due to a 37 percent surcharge for construction of the failed nuclear plants, and my bill from New York’s Consolidated Edison. Would South Carolina voters have chosen representatives enthralled with nuclear power if journalists had spelled out the true costs beforehand?

Further, all nuclear reactors release radioactive particulates into the surrounding environment, contaminating dairy farms, fish, deer and other game. What impact might that have on health in minority communities in particular? How might that affect those who fish not for sport, but for dinner? What are safer, less expensive options?

The latest IPCC report should be an alarm for black journalists not to miss out on covering all aspects of the biggest issue of our time, especially its impact on the most vulnerable citizens.

In the Comments section below is a source list for journalists. I asked Seth Borenstein, environmental writer of the Associated Press and a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, if he would share his list.

Roger Witherspoon is a contributing editor to US Black Engineer & IT

Michaela Pereira Out at HLN in Format Change

Michaela Pereira and two of her on-air colleagues at HLN are leaving the network as the CNN sibling shifts away live programming, Ken Jautz, executive vice  president of CNN, told staff members on Tuesday.

Jautz said in his note:

Michaela Pereira
Michaela Pereira

“The current cable news landscape is dominated by politics. Our live news shows have not benefitted from this trend given our story mix. However, HLN’s longform programs have been performing very well.

“In today’s news environment, every network has to focus on its strengths. To ensure HLN’s growth, we will shift some of our resources from live to longform programming and produce our live shows in as streamlined a manner as possible. The best way to do this is to centralize production of live news programming in Atlanta.

“Beginning October 29, our live program schedule will be as follows: 6a-noon ET, an expanded ‘Morning Express with Robin Meade;’ noon-3p ‘On the Story;’ series, documentaries and other taped programming will start at 3p. ‘Weekend Express with Lynn Smith‘ hours remain 7a-noon.

“As a result, we will no longer have live programs based in NY or LA. It’s with deep regret that we will have to end production of ‘Across America with Carol Costello,’ ‘Michaela’ and ‘Crime & Justice with Ashleigh Banfield.’ I know that you will join me in thanking these incredibly talented journalists and their teams for their dedication and hard work.

“We built a top-notch line-up of some of the best anchors and show teams in the industry, and we are proud of what we’ve accomplished together these past few years.”

Pereira, formerly news anchor on CNN’s then-flagship morning program, “New Day,” began “Michaela,” a live, three-hour daily news program,  on HLN in 2016. It originated in Los Angeles, where she had been a co-host of “KTLA Morning News,” the top-rated morning show in the Los Angeles market, for nine years..

In 2014, she received the Angelo Henderson Community Service Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

“Each and every morning viewers of CNN are able to see in Michaela Pereira a compassionate journalist who understands that journalists have a responsibility to be involved in the community,” Bob Butler, then NABJ president, said in a news release. “While in Los Angeles Michaela gave voice to people who needed a voice, and told stories that needed to be told. She also serves as a role model, a source of inspiration, or a listening ear. She uses her platform, her power and her personality to communicate a clear message, a very real truth that our shared experiences as people really do bind us together.”

“Spurred in part by her upbringing as one of five adopted children, Pereira has a special place in her heart for children,” the release continued. “She has served as chairwoman of the board of LA’s BEST Friends, an after school education, enrichment, and recreation program, as a member of the board of directors for the Long Beach Boys and Girls Club, as an advisory board member for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), supporting children in foster care, and as an honorary advisory board member for Optimist Youth Home, which provides services for troubled youth. . . .”

Short Takes

Ann Curry
Ann Curry

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1 comment

richard October 16, 2018 at 1:50 am

Seth Borenstein’s list of climate change experts

Dr. Marshall Shepherd; marshgeo@gmail.com (personal) marshgeo@uga.edu (UGA) Director, Atmospheric Sciences Program, University of Georgia http://atsc.uga.edu 2013 President, American Meteorological Society; Host, Weather Channel's Weather (Wx) Geeks
Twitter: @DrShepherd2013
Website: http://drmarshallshepherd.com
Andrew Dessler, Texas & AM University climate scientist: adessler@tamu.edu; 979-862-1427
.
Christopher Field Director
Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Creating Practical Solutions for People and the Planet
cfield@stanford.edu
+1 (650) 736 4352
https://woods.stanford.edu
Drew Shindell, Duke U niversity climate scientist: (919) 681-8467
drew.shindell@duke.edu

Jennifer Francis, Rutgers, arctic amplification theory pioneer;

508-748-0467; jafmocha@gmail.com
Jennifer Francis, Ph.D.

Research Professor, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University

francis@imcs.rutgers.edu
http://marine.rutgers.edu/~francis

Bob Kopp, also at Rutgers: Robert.kopp@rutgers.edu Phone: +1-732-200-2705 Climate
scientist, geobiologist, and climate policy scholar at Rutgers University's Dept. of Earth &
Planetary Sciences and Institute of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences.

Climate change, politics, environmental stewardship and sociology: Dana R. Fisher, Ph.D.
Director, Program for Society and the Environment, Professor of Sociology, University of
Maryland drfisher@umd.edu; phone: 301-405-6469; http://www.drfisher.umd.edu; @Fisher_DanaR;
cell: 917-470-4332

Susan Solomon, MIT climate scientist; solos@mit.edu
Kim Cobb; Georgia Tech climate scientist who also studies effects on coral reef, works with
Julia Baum: kcobb@gatech.edu; kcobb@eas.gatech.edu; office: 404-894-3895; cell: 858-922-
3584; Twitter @coralsncaves
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg <oveh@uq.edu.au> coral and climate out of Australia. Part of 1.5IPCC
study
Brian Brettschneider, Alaska climatologist
907-952-7650. Brian Brettschneider bbrettschneider@outlook.com
Noah S. Diffenbaugh
Kara J Foundation Professor, Department of Earth System Science
Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment
Stanford University
473 Via Ortega
Stanford, CA, 94305-4216
diffenbaugh@stanford.edu
https://pangea.stanford.edu/researchgroups/cesd/
650.725.7510 (office)
Phil mote, university of Oregon:
Professor, Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, and director of the Oregon Climate Change
Research Institute (OCCRI)
Discipline: Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres
Secondary Discipline: Geography, Environmental Sciences, and Marine Resource Management
Office: Strand 370
Phone: 541-737-5694 
Email: pmote@coas.oregonstate.edu

Kathie Dello
Associate Director of OCCRI; Deputy Director, Oregon Climate Service
Discipline: Physics of Oceans and Atmospheres
Office: Strand 370
Phone: 541-737-8927 
Email: kdello@coas.oregonstate.edu
Jason Furtado, University Oklahoma climate scientist: Office: NWC 5240
Phone: (405) 325-1391

Website: http://ifurtado.org
Renee McPherson, Univesity Oklahoma
Associate Professor
Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability
 
University of Oklahoma
renee@ou.edu
University Director, South Central Climate Science Center

Spacer: 

Dr. Vittorio (Victor) A. Gensini
Northern Illinois University, professor of meteorology
Vittorio (Victor) A. Gensini, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Geographic and Atmospheric Sciences
Northern Illinois University
Davis Hall, Room 118
DeKalb, IL 60115
ph: (815)-753-0631 | e : vgensini@niu.edu
http://weather.cod.edu/~vgensini
Wigley, Tom; NCAR. Phone: (303) 497-2690. E-mail: wigley@ucar.edu. Website: .
Publications: http://www.acacia.ucar.edu/publications.html. Resume:
http://www.acacia.ucar.edu/publications/wigleycv.html.

Thompson, Lonnie; Ohio State University; glaciologist; paleoclimatology; (614) 292-6652;
thompson.2@osu.edu

Mann, Michael, Penn State, "hockey stick" guy on past temperatures: (814) 863-4075; Michael
Mann <mann@meteo.psu.edu>
¶ Drew Shindell, Duke U niversity climate scientist: (919) 681-8467
drew.shindell@duke.edu
Nobel prize winning scientist, climate change and ozone expert Mario Molina;
mjmolina@ucsd.edu; office in Mexico: cellular (mexico): 011-52155-2699-7341
Contact person for him Mexico: Lorena Gonzalez; lgonzalez@centromariomolina.org
PR contacts in San Diego (scripps institution of oceanography) Monroe, Robert
<rmonroe@ucsd.edu>; Aguilera, Mario <maguilera@ucsd.edu>
Boston: Susan Solomon, MIT climate scientist; solos@mit.edu. She led two U.S. Antarctic
expeditions to measure the ozone layer in the 1980s and has also been a leader in studying global
warming. Very good: 617-324-8176

Naomi Oreskes Harvard historian; She wrote the amazing book Merchants of Doubt on climate
change deniers and how they work just like tobacco and other science deniers:
Oreskes@fas.harvard.edu
Erik Conway, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab science historian, co-author Merchants of Doubt,
erik.m.conway@jpl.nasa.gov; 818-393-1089
Dr Maarten van Aalst | Director | Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
PO Box 28120, NL-2502KC The Hague, the Netherlands
email vanaalst@climatecentre.org | phone +31 70 44 55 878 | mobile +31 6 150 86 199 | skype
mkvaalst
http://www.climatecentre.org  | follow us on twitter @RCClimate

Daniel Swain at Stanford: California Climate expert: dlswain@stanford.edu

Rowland, SHerwood; U California Irvine; 949-824-6016
Sarchik, Ed; University of Washington: 206-543-6720
Kalee Kreider
Special Advisor, Climate Science
United Nations Foundation
++1 (202) 650-5352
Twitter @kaleekreider
Skype kalee.kreider
IPCC
chief spokesman is Jonathan Lynn jlynn@wmo.int; T +41 (0)22 730 8066
F +41 (0)22 730 8025
M +41 (0)79 666 7134
there’s also Werani Zabula, wzabula@wmo.int
T: +41 (0) 22 730 8120
F: +41 (0) 22 730 8025
Kristie Ebi, University of Washingtgon, professor of public health; was staffer for IPCC impacts
of climate change report; 206-543-8440; krisebi@uw.edu;
Kristie L. Ebi, Ph.D., MPH 
Rohm & Haas Endowed Professor in Public Health Sciences
Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE)
University of Washington

Seattle, WA 98195
USA
krisebi@uw.edu
http://globalchange.uw.edu

Watson, Robert T. “Bob” past IPCC chairman; past chief scientist, World Bank. Head of global
intergovernmental panel on science of biodiversity; still a climate scientist with University of
East Anglia: rtwatson1@gmail.com; (lives in Potomac, Md)301-765-1071
Cynthia Rosenzweig NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies; author of chapter 1 IPCC Wkg
Group II; Climate Impacts Chief at NASA Goddard; did NYC impacts analysis; E-mail:
crosenzweig@giss.nasa.gov
Phone: (212) 678-5562;
David W Titley, Rear Admiral USN (ret.)
Professor of Practice in Meteorology
Professor, Penn State School of International Affairs
Director, Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk
Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
523 Walker Building, University Park PA  16802
———————————————
814.867.4750 (office)  |   831.233.4265 (cell)
dwt12@psu.edu          |   @dwtitley
———————————————
Katharine Hayhoe, Texas Tech climate scientist; 806-392-2305; hayhoe@atmosresearch.com
Emanuel, Kerry; prof of meteorology MIT, 617-253-2462; Kerry Emanuel
<kokey@MIT.EDU>
Gabriel “Gabe” Vecchi, PRINCETON University gvecchi@Princeton.EDU;
Hiro Murakami (expert on pacific storms, climate), NOAA geophysical fluid dynamics lab,
Princeton NJ: 609-452-5824; hiroyuki.murakami@noaa.gov
Jeff Masters, director of meteorology Weather Underground: 248-404-7784;
jmasters@wunderground.com (former NOAA hurricane hunter plane meteorologist)
Kevin Trenberth, NCAR senior scientist, trenbert@ucar.edu, 303-497-1318
Trenberth is an expert on the global climate system. He has been in the forefront of scientists
examining the potential influence of climate change on the intensity of tropical storms and
hurricanes and the increased widespread flooding that they cause.
The New Jersey State Climatologist, David Robinson, is a good guy and also runs the Rutgers
Snow Lab. http://njclimate.org david.robinson@rutgers.edu 848 445 4741
Climate variability, arctic oscillation;

John M. "Mike" Wallace, Professor University of Washington; expert on Arctic Oscillation;
Atmospheric general circulation; climate variability. (206) 543-7390
wallace@atmos.washington.edu http://www.atmos.washington.edu/wallace/wallace_more.
Barnett, Tim; climatologist, Scripps Institute in San Diego 858-534-3223;
Alley, Richard
Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences
Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison, 1987
Phone: (814) 863-1700
Office: 517 Deike Building
PENN STATE
Email: ralley@essc.psu.edu
Mahlman, Jerry; former head of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab, top climate
modeller, now semi-retired scientist at National Center for Atmospheric Research; Home: (303)
682-9382; office: 303-497-2886;
Graham, Nick; director of climate forecast division at Scripps Institite of Oceanography; 619-
534-8088
Santer, Ben; top climate scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab; 925-423-3364;
santer1@llnl.gov; home: 925-964-0554;

¶ Gerald North, professor Texas A&M University; headed Natl Academy Study in 2001 on
climate change: g-north@tamu.edu; 979-845-8077
Severinghaus, Jeff; professor of Geosciences
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego 92093-0244
http://icebubbles.ucsd.edu jseveringhaus@ucsd.edu
(858) 822-2483 voice
Jacoby, Henry
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Expertise: General; integrated analysis of climate from
perspectives of natural science, social science. policy, and management. Phone: (617) 253-6609.
E-mail: hjacoby@mit.edu. Website: http://sloancf.mit.edu/vpf/facstaff.cfm?ID=58. Publications:
http://sloancf.mit.edu/vpf/publication.cfm?in_spseqno=58. Resume: http://www.feem-
web.it/cp05/05bio_jac.html.

MacCracken, Mike; former head of US climate change national assessment

Climate Institute. Expertise: General. Phone: (301) 564-4255. E-mail: mmaccrac@comcast.net.
Ken Kunkel: NOAA's National Climatic Data Center 828.257.3137
Ken.Kunkel@noaa.gov Dr. Kunkel's recent research has focused on climate variability and
change, particularly related to extreme events, such as heavy precipitation, heat waves, cold
waves, and winter storms. A particular focus has been the historical variations in the frequency
and intensity of such extreme events extending from the late 19th Century to the present. An
examination of late 19th and early 20th Century variations is important because it establishes the
quasi-natural background which provides a context for interpreting recent variations and possible
anthropogenic influences.
Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam University 49-331-288-2688 rahmstorf@pik-potsdam.de
Health and climate impact

Prof. Jonathan Patz MD, 608-262-4775 patz@wisc.edu; professor of Environmental Studies &
Population Health Sciences; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ag impacts:
¶ William Easterling, dean, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Penn State; wee2@psu.edu
814-865-6546 (expert on ag and climate change, coordinating lead author ag chaper IPCC WGII
2007)

Abrupt Climate Change
Ruth Curry, Research Specialist Physical Oceanography
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; (508) 289-2799
rcurry@whoi.edu
Professor Jochem Marotzke – Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
direct 011-49-(0)-40-41173-440 (secretary last 3 digits 311)
Andreas Schmittner, Oregon State Unviersity prof marine geology and geophysics, did models
on ocean converyor/abrupt climate change
(541)737-9952
Professor Harry Bryden
sSchool: Ocean and Earth Sciences
Faculty: Engineering, Science and Mathematics
Telephone Number: 023 8059 6437
023 8059 5898
E-mail: h.bryden@soc.soton.ac.uk

Phenology and climate change
¶ * Jake Weltzin, head of the U.S. Geological Survey's phenology network: jweltzin@usgs.gov
703-485-5138. 
(520) 626-3821; Cell: 520-401-4932; H: (520) 300-4841
* Richard Primack, professor of conservation biology at Boston University: (617) 353-2454; or
primack@bu.edu.
*David Wolfe, cornell university; professor of horticulture: 607-255-7888. dww5@cornell.edu
* Abe Miller-Rushing (did work with Primack in New England, but now works from Mass. for a
Colorado institute): Cell: 617-875-7847
Gavin A. Schmidt
NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies Phone: (212) 678-5627. E-mail:
gschmidt@giss.nasa.gov. Website: http://www.giss.nasa.gov/~gavin/. Publications: . Bio:
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=46. ; cell is 212 749 0006,

Warren M. Washington
National Center for Atmospheric Research Phone: (303) 497-1321. E-mail: wmw@ucar.edu.
Website: http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/ccr/warren/. Resume:
http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/ccr/warren/vita%20in%20msword%202006.pdf.
Richard Somerville
Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Univ. California at San Diego Phone: (858) 534-4644. E-
mail: rsomerville@ucsd.edu. Website:
http://sio.ucsd.edu/rab/act_detail.cfm?state=%26(.O)W%2C%2F_. Resume:
http://myprofile.cos.com/somerv96.
Ronald J. Stouffer
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (Princeton, NJ) Phone: (609) 452-6576. E-mail:
Ronald.Stouffer@noaa.gov. Website: http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~rjs/ . Publications:
http://www.gfdl.gov/reference/bibliography/authors/stouffer.html. Resume:
http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~rjs/vitae.html.
Anthony J. Broccoli
Rutgers University. Phone: (732) 932-9817. E-mail: broccoli@envsci.rutgers.edu. Website:
http://www.envsci.rutgers.edu/~broccoli/. Publications:
http://www.envsci.rutgers.edu/~broccoli/publications.htm and
http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/reference/bibliography/authors/broccoli.html. Resume:
http://www.envsci.rutgers.edu/~broccoli/CV.htm.
Wallace S. Broecker
Phone: (845) 365-8413. E-mail: broecker@ldeo.columbia.edu. Bio: http://www.af-
info.or.jp/eng/honor/hot/enrbro.html.
Mark A. Cane
Earth Institute at Columbia University. Phone: 845-365-8344. E-mail:
mcane@ldeo.columbia.edu or mac6@columbia.edu. Website: http://rainbow.ldeo.columbia.edu/.

Publications: . Resume: http://iri.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/staff?mcane and
http://webcenter.ldeo.columbia.edu:81/people.nsf/c4f65a2662e6f09485256ee80071b305/50fe31c
23436bb3c85256ef300647e48?OpenDocument. Contact Info:
http://directory.ei.columbia.edu/displayuser.php?userid=112
Hans-Otto Poertner (working group 2 chief IPCC)
Professor
Marine Biology/Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology
Section: Integrative Ecophysiology
Alfred-Wegener-Institute
Postfach 12 01 61
Am Handelshafen 12
D-27570 Bremerhaven
Germany
Tel: ++49-471-4831-1307/-2440 (TSU-office Bremen)
Fax: ++49-471-4831-1149
mobile: +49 151 5766 3113
email: hans.poertner@awi.de

¶ Martin Parry (martin@mlparry.com) Grantham Institute for Climate Change at
Imperial College London +44 (0)7884 317 108

¶ John Christensen; head of UNEP Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development; +45-46-77-51-30; john.christensen@risoe.dk; head of secretariat for Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development; cell: +45-4017-8357

¶ Thomas Stocker, IPCC WG1 coordinating lead author on climate projections; professor ofclimate and environmental physics at Physics Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland; stocker@climate.unibe.ch; ph: +41-31-631 44 62
Morgan, Granger: Carnegie

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