The 2020 SCAR President’s Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Antarctic Science has been awarded to Valérie Masson-Delmotte, a Senior Researcher at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’environnement (at CEA), France, and Co-Chair of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The medal was awarded by SCAR President, Prof Steven L Chown, whose term would end in 2020 had the SCAR meetings not been cancelled.
Valérie is widely known for her research on palaeoclimates in the Antarctic and in other regions of the world, especially through the exploration of data from ice-cores. Over more than 20 years, she has worked with an extensive range of researchers across many disciplines to deliver unprecedented knowledge about the behaviour of the Earth System. Much of this work has concerned how the Antarctic provides a record of, and contributes to, variability of the planet’s climate.
Early recognition of the dangers posed by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, to ecosystems and to society, led Valérie to active participation in the public understanding of science. Her most well-known roles have been through her work with the IPCC, her advice to the government of France, and her engagement with many other decision makers.
The SCAR President, Prof Steven Chown, adds: “Valérie is an indefatigable, committed scientist, communicator and inspiring citizen of the world. She’s an example of the very best that science can bring to society.”
Read Valérie’s full citation in the SCAR Library.