MSU forestry professor David Skole was named chair of the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education.
This standing committee provides foundation-wide advice on all matters related to environmental science, engineering and education. It reports directly to the director of the foundation and is the only advisory committee that does. The AC-ERE oversees programming on climate change, environmental observatories, sustainability, ecosystem dynamics, cell function, atmospheric chemistry and a variety of other areas.
Specifically, the advisory committee’s role is to provide advice, recommendations and oversight concerning support for the NSF's environmental research and education portfolio. In addition, the committee is to be a base of contact with the scientific community to inform NSF of the impact of its research support and NSF-wide policies on the scientific community.
Skole served as chair several years ago and most recently has served the AC-ERE as a committee member.
Skole is also being reappointed as a member of the National Academies Standing Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space, or CESAS. This committee advises the U.S. government on science in which space-based observations are central components, and principally oversees science programs in NASA, NOAA and USGS. The group is being asked to prepare the next decadal survey, which will chart the next decade of research and space missions for those agencies.
Skole’s research focuses on climate change, carbon markets and greenhouse gas reduction all over the world. His work is funded at MSU by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and MSU AgBioResearch, US-AID, NASA and the Governor's Climate and Forest Fund.