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Source: Chuck Rice, 785-532-7217, cwrice@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/ricebio.html
Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-2535.
News release prepared by: Steve Watson, 785-532-7105, swatson@k-state.edu
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
K-STATE PROFESSOR TO SERVE ON PRESTIGIOUS UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE PANEL
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Chuck Rice, university distinguished professor of agronomy, has been selected again to join other leading international scientists as part of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Rice has been chosen to become one of just two lead authors from the U.S. for the chapter on agriculture in the panel's upcoming Fifth Assessment Report on Climate Change.
"This is a tremendous honor and responsibility," Rice said. "Being a lead author is a time-consuming task, but the stakes couldn't be higher. The discussions on climate change and policy debates are reaching a critical stage, and the outcome is crucial for agriculture. The best possible and most current scientific information is needed by policymakers worldwide as soon as possible."
The assessment report is expected to be released in 2014. Altogether, there will be 201 lead authors involved in writing the upcoming report; of which only 29 are from the U.S., including Rice.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the leading body for the assessment of climate change to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential consequences. Thousands of scientists from around the world contribute to the work of the panel on a voluntary basis. The panel embodies a special opportunity to provide rigorous and balanced scientific information to decision-makers.
In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was honored as co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for its Fourth Assessment Report, on which Rice served as an author.
Rice's research has been supported by more than $15 million in grants from the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy, National Science Foundation and others. He is director of the Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases. He has advised more than 30 graduate students and has more than 100 publications. He also is one of five team leaders for a $20 million Kansas National Science Foundation EPSCoR project researching global climate change and renewable energy research. Rice is leading the group using climate modeling tactics to predict the effects of climate change and develop strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
In addition to his involvement in research and teaching in soil microbiology at K-State, Rice has been active with the Soil Science Society of America, where he is president-elect. He currently serves on the National Academies Board on Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Air Quality Task Force. He also chairs the Commission on Soils, Food Security and Public Health of the International Union of Soil Sciences, and he is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.