Climate researcher Reto Knutti receives award
Professor Dr. Reto Knutti, Professor of Climate Physics at ETH Zurich, is awarded the Dr. J. E. Brandenberger Foundation Prize 2018 for his outstanding achievements in climate change research and for communicating his findings to the public.
Petter Knutti receives a high award. This award honors a teacher and researcher who has shown great, sustained commitment to climate protection far beyond the country's borders and knows how to put the findings and his research at the service of society, according to the media release.
One of the highest foundation awards
The prize, endowed with 200,000 Swiss francs, is one of the highest foundation prizes in Switzerland. Thanks to the legacy of the foundation's donor Marthe Brandenberger, the only daughter of the Cellophane inventor Dr. J.E. Brandenberger, the prize can be awarded for the 29th time. It was her will that personalities be honored who have dedicated themselves to improving the living conditions of people and have made special contributions in this regard.
"This is very true of Professor Dr. Reto Knutti," says Foundation President Carlo Schmid-Sutter, "our awareness of climate change has not only increased after this heatwave summer; thanks to new ways of communicating knowledge, Reto Knutti has succeeded in reaching new interested parties, making the results of his research known far beyond the academic world, and sensitizing political decision-makers and the general public to the topic."
Still a luminous figure
Reto Knutti, who grew up in Gstaad, became interested in climate as a schoolboy. "I guess it has to do with living in the mountains," he says, "you're closely connected to the weather." It was clear to him that he wanted to study physics at the University of Bern; his great role model in the field of climate research is the renowned Bernese climate physicist Professor Dr. Thomas Stocker. "He became my doctoral supervisor and is still a beacon for me today."
What should our world look like in 20 to 30 years? How do we raise our awareness of the risks of climate change? How do we create social and political acceptance for the irrefutable facts of climate research? As one of the main authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate report, Reto Knutti shows the impact of global warming on our planet. He heads the Climate Physics Group at the Institute for Atmosphere and Climate of the Department of Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich, is ETH's Delegate for Sustainability, President of ProClim, and is a tireless public advocate for a better understanding of the complexity of the global climate system and for responsible stewardship of our environment by every individual.
The prize of the Dr. J.E. Brandenberger Foundation will be awarded to Reto Knutti on November 24, 2018 in Zurich. The laudation will be held by ETH President Professor Dr. Lino Guzzella.
