{{Short description|American oceanographer and paleoclimatologist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Peter B. de Menocal | image = Peter B. de Menocal.jpg | fields = Oceanography Paleoclimatology | workplaces = [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]] | alma_mater = [[St. Lawrence University]], [[University of Rhode Island]], [[Columbia University]] | thesis_title = Pliocene-Pleistocene Evolution of Tropical Aridity | doctoral_advisor = [[William F. Ruddiman]] | known_for = African climate and human evolution, founding the [[Center for Climate and Life]] at Columbia University | website = [http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~peter/site/Home.html de Menocal's homepage] }}
'''Peter B. de Menocal''' is an [[Oceanography|oceanographer]] and [[paleoclimatologist]]. He is the president and director of the [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]], a research facility in Massachusetts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who is Peter de Menocal? A Conversation with WHOI's new President & Director|url=https://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/who-is-peter-de-menocal-a-conversation-with-whois-new-president-director/|access-date=2021-03-11|website=WHOI Oceanus|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Education == De Menocal earned a B.S. in geology from [[St. Lawrence University]] in 1982, an M.S. in oceanography from the [[University of Rhode Island]] in 1986, and his Ph.D. in geology from [[Columbia University]] in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2692|title=Peter deMenocal - The Earth Institute - Columbia University|website=www.earth.columbia.edu|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from St. Lawrence University in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://it.stlawu.edu/~geoclub/alumni/PeterdeMenocal-commence2009.html|title=St. Lawrence Geology - Peter deMenocal|last=McElfresh|first=Sarah B.Z.|website=it.stlawu.edu|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
== Career == De Menocal spent much of his early career at [[Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory]] of [[Columbia University]], where he was Thomas Alva Edison/Con Edison Professor and founding director of the [[Center for Climate and Life]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=2016-09-30|title=Peter de Menocal Named New Science Dean and Con Ed Professor|work=Columbia News|url=http://news.columbia.edu/content/Peter-de-Menocal-Named-New-Science-Dean-and-Con-Ed-Professor|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
De Menocal began working at Columbia University in 1986 as a graduate research assistant at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://alumniportal.brooksschool.org/AlumniProfiles/deMenocal|title=Alumni Profiles - Peter deMenocal '78 - Brooks School|website=alumniportal.brooksschool.org|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref> He was appointed dean of science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia in 2016.<ref name=":0" />
He has authored more than 230 peer-reviewed publications.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=vmUkuKAAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=title|title=Peter deMenocal - Google Scholar Citations|website=scholar.google.com|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref> De Menocal frequently appears in the media and talks about climate change with the public.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2812912/|title=Peter de Menocal|website=IMDb|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=peter+demenocal&tbm=nws|title=peter demenocal - Google Search|website=www.google.com|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-undividing-america-2017-6|title=How Texas Republicans are fighting to save the planet|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
=== Research === De Menocal uses geochemical analyses of marine sediments to investigate past changes in ocean circulation and terrestrial climates. His goal is to understand how and why past climates have changed, with a specific interest in placing contemporary climate change trends within the context of climate changes during the prehistoric past.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~peter/site/Home.html|title=Peter B. de Menocal|website=www.ldeo.columbia.edu|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
He has participated in 12 oceanographic research cruises and, in 2001, was on one of the last research cruises off the coast of northeast Africa before the region was declared off limits to scientists due to the threat posed by pirates.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/how-somali-pirates-almost-but-not-quite-halted-vital-climate-change-research/280621/|title=How Somali Pirates Almost (but Not Quite) Halted Vital Climate Change Research|last=Schiffman|first=Richard|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
== Awards == In 2008, de Menocal received the Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award, "given annually to faculty of unusual merit."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fas.columbia.edu/home/highlights/recognition-and-awards#Distinguished%20Faculty|title=Recognition and Awards {{!}} Faculty of Arts and Sciences|website=fas.columbia.edu|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
De Menocal was named a fellow of the [[American Geophysical Union]] in 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://honors.agu.org/honorsfellow/1595-demenocal/|title=DeMenocal - Honors Program|work=Honors Program|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref> In 2014, he was named the American Geophysical Union Emiliani lecturer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://paleo.agu.org/emiliani-lecture/|title=Emiliani Lecture - Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology|work=[[Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology]]|access-date=2017-08-09}}</ref>
== References == <references />
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Menocal, Peter B.}} [[Category:American oceanographers]] [[Category:American paleoanthropologists]] [[Category:Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people]] [[Category:St. Lawrence University alumni]] [[Category:University of Rhode Island alumni]] [[Category:Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Geophysical Union]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Brooks School alumni]]