Nicolas Gruber receives Roger Revelle Medal

The Roger Revelle Medal is given annually to one honoree in recognition of outstanding contributions in atmospheric sciences, atmosphere-ocean coupling, atmosphere-land coupling, biogeochemical cycles, climate or related aspects of the Earth system. "The Roger Revelle Medal is one of the highest honours awarded by the scientific community in the climate and earth sciences," emphasizes Nicolas Gruber. Among the prizewinners since 1992 are two later Nobel Prize winners (Suki Manabe and Sherwood Rowland) and many other outstanding researchers. Nicolas Gruber is the second Swiss laureate after Hans Oeschger (1997) and only the fourth researcher who teaches and conducts research outside the United States.

A central piece of the puzzle

Nicolas Gruber receives the Roger Revelle Medal for his contributions to marine carbon cycle research and the quantification of the uptake and storage of man-made carbon in the ocean. Gruber has developed several methods that make it possible to determine this additional CO₂ in the ocean with the help of measurements,  and thus determine the global budget of man-made CO₂. This budget is a central piece of the puzzle for understanding and quantifying the impact of humans on the global climate. "I am very proud of this award and dedicate it to all those with whom I have been privileged to work over the past decades,¡± says Nicolas Gruber, thanking his current and former colleagues and those with whom he has conducted research.

Who was Roger Revelle?

As a pioneer in the field of climate research, Roger Revelle had a decisive influence on oceanography. Among other things, he researched the carbon dioxide balance of the oceans and its influence on climate change. He advanced oceanographic research into plate tectonics, carried out observations on the biological effects of radiation in the marine environment and published studies on human population growth and the global food supply. From 1956 to 1959 he was president of the AGU's Oceanography Section.

With over 60,000 members, the AGU is one of the largest scientific organisations in the world. The award ceremony will take place in Washington, D.C. in December.