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Lonnie Thompson (born July 1, 1948), is an American
paleoclimatologist Paleoclimatology (American and British English spelling differences, British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the study of climates for which direct measurements were not taken. As instrumental records only span a tiny part of Earth's history, the ...
and university professor in the School of
Earth Sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four sphere ...
at
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. He has achieved global recognition for his drilling and analysis of
ice core An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier. Since the ice forms from the incremental buildup of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper ones, and an ice core contains ic ...
s from ice caps and mountain glaciers in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. He and his wife, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, run the ice core paleoclimatology research group at the
Byrd Polar Research Center The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (BPCRC) is a polar, alpine, and climate research center at Ohio State University, The Ohio State University founded in 1960. History and research The Byrd Polar Research Center (BPRC) at Ohio State Un ...
.


Early life and education

Thompson was born July 1, 1948 in
Gassaway, West Virginia Gassaway is a town in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 769 at the 2020 census. Gassaway was incorporated in 1905 and named for Henry Gassaway Davis, the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the Unite ...
and was raised there on a farm. He obtained an undergraduate degree from
Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...
, majoring in geology. He subsequently attended Ohio State University where he received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology.


Career and impact

Thompson is one of the world’s foremost authorities on paleoclimatology and glaciology. For over 40 years, he has led 60 expeditions where they conduct ice-core drilling programs in the Polar Regions as well as on tropical and subtropical ice fields in 16 countries including China, Peru, Russia, Tanzania and Papua, Indonesia (New Guinea). He and his team from the Ohio State University have developed light-weight solar-powered drilling equipment for acquisition of histories from ice fields in the tropical South American Andes, the Himalayas, and on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The results from these paleoclimate histories were published in more than 230 articles and have contributed toward improved understanding of Earth’s climate system, both past and present. In the 1970s, he was the first scientist "to retrieve ice samples from a remote tropical ice cap, such as the
Quelccaya Ice Cap The Quelccaya Ice Cap (also known as Quenamari Ice Cap) is the second largest glaciated area in the tropics, after Coropuna. Located in the Cordillera Oriental section of the Andes mountains in Peru, the cap covers an area of with ice up t ...
in the Andes of Peru, and analyze them for ancient climate signals." He created the ice core research program at Ohio State while still a graduate student there. In regards to the dedication required to attain this ice, one author writes: For comparison, the
Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heigh ...
lower base camp is at 5,380 m (17,700 ft) and the upper base camp is at 6,500 m (21,300 ft). (The mountain itself is 8,848 m (29,029 ft).) ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine says that there is no person in the world who has spent more time above 18,000 feet than Lonnie Thompson. His observations of glacier retreat (1970s–2000s) "confirm that glaciers around the world are melting and provide clear evidence that the warming of the last 50 years is now outside the range of climate variability for several millennia, if not longer." In 2001, he incorrectly predicted that the famed snows of Africa's
Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
would melt within the next 20 years, a victim of climate change across the tropics. Return expeditions to the mountain have shown that changes in the mountain's ice fields may signal an even quicker melting of its snow fields, which Thompson documented had existed for thousands of years. Thompson and his wife both served as advisers for the Academy Award-winning 2006 documentary ''
An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...
'', by
Al Gore, Jr. 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 no ...
, and some of their work was referenced in the movie.


Personal life

Lonnie Thompson has been married to Ellen Mosley-Thompson for more than 40 years. They met in the 1970s in the Marshall University while he was studying geology and she was pursuing a degree in physics. After their graduation, they both pursued graduate degrees in geology at the Ohio State University. They are now research partners who are both interested in examining the
effects of climate change The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice (glaciers), sea level ...
on the world's glacial regions and in developing the technology to drill deep in the ice. On May 1, 2012, he underwent a successful heart transplant.


Honors and awards

*2001: Thompson was featured among eighteen
scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...
and
researchers Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
as "America's Best" by
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
. *2002: Thompson was awarded the
Dr A.H. Heineken Prize The Heineken Prizes for Arts and Sciences consist of 11 awards biannually bestowed by Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The prizes are named in honor of Henry Pierre Heineken, son of founder Gerard Adriaan Heineken, Alfred Heineken, ...
for
Environmental Sciences Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...
by the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...
. *2002: Thompson was awarded the Vega Medal by the
Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG; sv, Svenska Sällskapet för Antropologi och Geografi) is a scientific learned society founded in December 1877. It was established after a rearrangement of various sections of the Anthropo ...
. *2005: Thompson was elected to the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
br>
*November, 2005: Thompson was featured in a "
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
" article
"The Ice Hunter"
*2005: Thompson was awarded the prestigious
Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is an annual award for environmental science, environmental health, and energy. Tyler Laureates receive a $200,000 cash prize and a medallion. The prize is administered by the University of Southern Cal ...
, an honor often regarded as the environmental science equivalent to the
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...


*2006: Thompson was elected to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. *February, 2007: Mosley-Thompson and Thompson were jointly awarded the
Roy Chapman Andrews Roy Chapman Andrews (January 26, 1884 – March 11, 1960) was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He led a series of expeditions through the politically disturbed C ...
Society Distinguished Explorer Award at
Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...
, Beloit, W

*May, 2007: Thompson is named to receive the
National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...


This honor is the highest the United States can bestow upon an American scientist. It was presented to Thompson by President Bush in July 2007 (Award year 2005)

*2007: Thompson was awarded
Seligman Crystal The Seligman Crystal is an award of the International Glaciological Society. The prize is "awarded from time to time to one who has made an outstanding scientific contribution to glaciology so that the subject is now enriched" and named after Ger ...
by the
International Glaciological Society The International Glaciological Society (IGS) was founded in 1936 to provide a focus for individuals interested in glaciology, practical and scientific aspects of snow and ice. It was originally known as the "Association for the Study of Snow an ...
. The Crystal is considered to be one of the highest awards in glaciology. *2008: Mosley-Thompson and Thompson share the $1 million
Dan David Prize The Dan David Prize is a major international award that recognizes and supports outstanding contributions to the study of history and other disciplines that shed light on the human past. It awards nine prizes of $300,000 each year to outstanding ...
(Future category) with British researcher
Geoffrey Eglinton Geoffrey Eglinton, FRS (1 November 1927 – 11 March 2016) was a British chemist and emeritus professor and senior research fellow in earth sciences at the University of Bristol. Education Eglinton was educated at Sale Grammar School and the Un ...
. *2008: Thompson was listed as one of Time Magazine's
Heroes of the Environment Heroes of the Environment was a list of a year's most notable environmentalists chosen and compiled by ''Time'' magazine. The award was established in 2007. *Heroes of the Environment (2007). *Heroes of the Environment (2008). *Heroes of the Envir ...
. *2012: Mosley-Thompson and Thompson were jointly awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science from the
Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...
. *2013: International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, China *2021:
BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards () are an international award programme recognizing significant contributions in the areas of scientific research and cultural creation. The categories that make up the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ...
in the category "Climate Change".BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards 2021
/ref>


Publications

Lonnie Thompson has been awarded 53 research grants from the NSF, NASA, NOAA and NGS and has published 165 papers. An abbreviated list of expeditions, grants, and publications can be found i
his Ohio State curriculum vitae
(PDF). Some notable publications include: * * * * *


References


External links



the Thompson's research group at OSU.

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100626050653/http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu/faculty_bios.php?id=52 Lonnie Thompson's Department of Geological Sciences faculty home pagebr>Ellen Mosley-Thompson's Department of Geography faculty home page "Rapid Climate Change in the Earth System: Past,Present,Future"
2002 Heineken Prize lecture by Prof. Thompson

biography from the Encyclopedia of World Biography

from CNN/Time. * ttp://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/contenthandler.cfm?id=1470 "Science Goes to New Heights" article about Thompson's research in
The Antarctic Sun ''The Antarctic Sun'' is an online newspaper with "News about the USAP, the Ice, and the People." It is funded by the National Science Foundation (contract no. NSFDACS1219442) by its prime civilian contractor, Leidos Antarctic Support Contract. ...
. June 27, 2008
The Habitable Planet video

WOSU Public Media profiled the Thompson's polar research in 2008
in a two video segments distributed nationally. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Lonnie Ohio State University faculty Ohio State University Graduate School alumni 20th-century American geologists Living people National Medal of Science laureates American climatologists Paleoclimatologists 1948 births Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences People from Gassaway, West Virginia Scientists from West Virginia Marshall University alumni Winners of the Heineken Prize American Antarctic scientists Members of the American Philosophical Society 21st-century American geologists