Berkeley Earth Team

Robert obtained his Ph.D. in experimental/theoretical physics in January 2010 from UC Berkeley.  His expertise focuses on the statistical analysis of large data sets, including experience dealing with data biases and errors that typically accompany diverse data collections.  He led the development of the Berkeley Earth temperature analysis, which has used more than a billion instrumental temperature observations to reconstruct the historical climate of the Earth.  By bringing in more data and applying modern statistical techniques, Berkeley Earth was able to provide a longer and more detailed history of climate change. This analysis is now widely cited and used in the scientific discussion of global warming.

Robert has also worked with Berkeley Earth to develop real-time and historical analyses of air quality for many regions of the Earth.  This work has helped to quantify the impact of air pollution on human health.

Prior to Berkeley Earth, Robert is the co-author (with Richard Muller) of a series of papers on the analysis of biodiversity in the fossil record.  He was also the author (with P. Buford Price) of papers working to understand several aspects of ice cores and role of microbial life in glacial ice.  His Ph.D. thesis was on The Development and Use of the Berkeley Fluorescence Spectrometer to Characterize Microbial Content and Detect Volcanic Ash in Glacial Ice.

For decades, Robert has spent part of his time as a scientific communicator and producer of scientific visualizations.  His graphics and insights have frequently appeared in mass media such as the Washington Post, New York Times, Wikipedia, and other venues.

Zeke Hausfather is a climate scientist and energy systems analyst whose research focuses on observational temperature records, climate models, and mitigation technologies. He spent 10 years working as a data scientist and entrepreneur in the cleantech sector, where he was the lead data scientist at Essess, the chief scientist at C3.ai, and the cofounder and chief scientist of Efficiency 2.0. He was previously the senior climate analyst at Project Drawdown, and currently is the Director of Climate and Energy at the Breakthrough Institute and the US analyst for Carbon Brief as well as serving as a research scientist with Berkeley Earth. He has masters degrees in environmental science from Yale University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a PhD in climate science from the University of California, Berkeley.