Exploring Our Planet to Learn About Climate

This ScienceLives article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.

Richard Alley studies glaciers and ice sheets to learn how the climate works and whether melting ice will flood our coasts. He has shared his expertise with groups ranging from U.S. senators to school classes and Boy Scout troops, and has won awards for teaching, research and public service. Alley has published over 200 refereed papers, and is a "highly cited" scientist as indexed by ISI. He is presenter for the PBS TV special on climate and energy "EARTH: The Operators' Manual," and author of the book. His popular account of climate change and ice cores, The Two-Mile Time Machine, was Phi Beta Kappa's science book of the year in 2001. Alley is happily married with two daughters, two cats, two bicycles and a pair of soccer cleats.

Learn more about Richard Alley and watch him answer 10 ScienceLives questions below. Also, watch an introduction video to "EARTH: The Operators' Manual" and check out film segments from the program, below.

Name: Richard Alley Age: 53 Institution: Penn State Field of Study: Glaciology

Editor's Note: This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the federal agency charged with funding basic research and education across all fields of science and engineering. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. See the ScienceLives archive.