Helen Hill |MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences

Days after the landmark Paris climate-change agreement, AAAS is announcing the first fellows of the Leshner Leadership Institute for Public Engagement with Science. All are climate scientists with an interest in promoting dialogue between science and society.

Among them are Noelle Eckley Selin, Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor, who holds a primary appointment in MIT's new Institute for Data, Systems and Society with a joint appointment in EAPS.

Selin's research focuses on using atmospheric chemistry modeling to inform decision-­making strategies on air pollution, climate change and toxic substances including mercury and persistent organic pollutants. She has also published articles and book chapters on the interactions between science and policy in international environmental negotiations, in particular focusing on global efforts to regulate hazardous chemicals and persistent organic pollutants.

Prior to joining the MIT faculty in 2010, Selin spent two years as a postdoctoral associate and research scientist with the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. She received her PhD in 2007 from Harvard University in Earth and Planetary Sciences. Previously, she was a research associate with the Initiative on Science and Technology for Sustainability at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a visiting Fulbright fellow at the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen, Denmark, and worked on chemicals issues at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The first cohort of 15 fellows, which also includes Peter Huybers, PhD '04, now Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard University, were recognized during the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco on 16 December.

Photo: EAPS/IDSS Associate Professor Noelle Eckley Selin