Kutzbach receives 2006 Roger Revelle Medal

Abstract

John E. Kutzbach was awarded the Roger Revelle Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting honors ceremony, which was held on 13 December 2006 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal recognizes outstanding contributions in atmospheric sciences, atmosphere‐ocean coupling, atmosphere‐land coupling, biogeochemical cycles, climate, or related aspects of the Earth system.John Kutzbach's career contributions to climate science are broad and deep. After a distinguished early career in atmospheric sciences, he shifted into paleoclimate during the 1970s. His subsequent research used general circulation models to explore several problems, including insolation and icesheet forcing of regional climates during the last deglaciation and in the late Holocene, the megamonsoon climates on the supercontinent Pangaea, and the climatic impacts of uplift of Tibet. These and other studies are characterized by an impressive economy of design, clarity of interpretation, and depth of insight into the operation of the climate system. Together, this body of work forms a large part of the framework of our current understanding of past climates.