Gordon McBean, , is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

climatologist Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of study ...

who serves as chairman of the board of trustees of the

Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences The Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS) was Canada's main funding body for university-based research on climate, atmospheric, and related oceanic work. It is now the Canadian Climate Forum. As an autonomous, charitable ...

. He is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

and Chair for Policy in the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. Previously he was the Assistant Deputy Minister of

Meteorological Service of Canada The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC; french: Service météorologique du Canada – SMC) is a division of Environment and Climate Change Canada, which primarily provides public meteorological information and weather forecasts and warnings ...

Biography

Professor McBean is born in British Columbia, Canada. He studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and obtained a PhD in physics and

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

(UBC), Vancouver, in 1970. From 1970 to 1988, McBean was a scientist with Environment Canada. In 1988, he became Professor of Geography and Chair of the Atmospheric Sciences Program and in 1992, Professor of Oceanography and Head of the Department of Oceanography. He returned to Environment Canada as Assistant Deputy Minister from 1994 to 2000, responsible for climate, weather and air quality sciences and services in the federal government. In 1995, McBean gave a speech to the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Internati ...

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. In 2006, McBean, with

Andrew Weaver Andrew John Weaver is a Canadian scientist and politician who represented the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head from 2013 to 2020 in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. Weaver was the leader of the Green Party of British Columbia from 2015 ...

and Ken Denman, authored an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

, signed by 90 Canadian climate scientists, to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

calling for an effective national climate change strategy. The letter was a response to an earlier open letter to Harper from 60 scientists (seven of them climatologists, 19 of them Canadians) arguing against the Kyoto accord and questioning its scientific basis. In addition to his involvement with the

, McBean is member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences partnerships committee and since 2014 president of the

International Council for Science The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...

(ICSU) (before 2014 member of the environment advisory committee). In 2018, he was professors in the Departments of Geography, Political Science and Physics at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, and is Director of Policy Studies at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction and Co-Director of the Centre for Environment and Sustainability there. He also acts as a mentor for the Loran Scholars program.

Awards and honours

* MSC

Patterson Medal The Patterson Distinguished Service Medal is awarded by the Meteorological Service of Canada The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC; french: Service météorologique du Canada – SMC) is a division of Environment and Climate Change Canada, wh ...

, 1989 * CMOS President's Prize *

Environment Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...

Jim Bruce Award * McBean has been a long-standing contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organisation that was jointly awarded the

2007 Nobel Peace Prize The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, in two equal parts, between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (founded in 1988) and Al Gore (b. 1948) "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made clima ...

together with

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

. * In 2010, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. * In 2011, he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario. * In 2015, he received the AGU Ambassador Award * In 2017, he received the

International Meteorological Organization Prize The International Meteorological Organization Prize is awarded annually by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for outstanding contributions in the field of meteorology and, since 1971, the field of operational hydrology. The prize, estab ...

, the highest award from the

World Meteorological Organisation The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Internatio ...

References

External links

CFCAS writeup on Gordon McBean
{{DEFAULTSORT:McBean, Gordon Canadian climatologists Members of the Order of Ontario University of Western Ontario faculty Living people University of British Columbia alumni Year of birth missing (living people) University of British Columbia faculty Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors