BIOGRAPHY OF PROFESSOR TIM PATTERSON

Professor R. Timothy Patterson, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Earth Sciences (paleoclimatology)

Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

 

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Web Site:  http://http-server.carleton.ca/~tpatters/
Phone: 613-520-2600 ext. 4425
e-mail: tpatterson[at]ccs.carleton.ca 

 

1986: Ph.D., Geology (Micropaleontology), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), U.S.A.
1983: B.A., Geology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
1980: Bachelor of Science (Biology), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

After working as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, Dr. Patterson joined Carleton University in 1988 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Full Professor in 1999.  He has published more than 100 papers in peer reviewed scientific research journals, receiving a 2002-2003 Carleton University Research Achievement Award in recognition of his work.  He was appointed Senior Visiting Fellow in the School of Geography at the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2003.  Dr. Patterson has been very active over the past decade using mass media to educate the public about the realities of climate change science (see sample media coverage below).  

Research Areas 

Professor Patterson employs sediments, microfossils and geochemistry in his research of past and present climate change as indicated in lake and oceanic sediments.

Dr. Patterson is the Canadian leader of the UNESCO International Geological Correlation Program Project IGCP 495 "Quaternary Land-Ocean interactions".  He is also the Principal Investigator of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Strategic Project studying the effect of past climate change (on scales varying from seasonal to millennia) on fish populations that are important to the fishing industry on the west coast of North America.  He has been Principal Investigator of a Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences project studying high-resolution Holocene climate records from anoxic fjords and coast lakes in British Columbia.

Public, Media and Government Education 

For the past ten years, Professor Patterson has been actively involved in educating the public, media and government about the science of climate change. Here are some samples (underlined phrases are hypertext links to the subject matter with the approximate download times noted when lengthy):

Government:

  • February 10, 2005: Testified before the House of Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.  Read Professor Patterson's testimony - it is as applicable today as it was then.

Media and the public:

Professor Patterson often appears on radio and television and is cited in newspapers and other publications as an expert commentator on the topic of climate change:

Television and widely distributed video: 

  • 2007 version of Climate Catastrophe Canceled may be seen here.

Radio:

  • May 17, 2007: Hear Professor Patterson on Calgary, Alberta’s Rutherford Show on QR77 (3 min.)
  • February 6, 2007: Hear (2 min.) radio interview with Professor Patterson and Tom Harris on Late Night Counsell on CFRA Radio in Ottawa, Ontario.
  • November 21, 2006: Hear (1 min.) interview with Professor Tim Patterson and Tom Harris, CFRA Radio, Ottawa's major AM station.

Newspapers: samples of Professor Patterson’s newspaper OpEds:

Cited in newspapers and other publications:

Sample letters to the editor:

Dr. Patterson is also a popular keynote speaker at conventions, universities, high schools and in other environments across North America.  Here is a sample:

  • April 21, 2007: Watch (2 min.) Professor Patterson presents his talk “It happens all the time … A scientist’s perspective on climate change” at Ecosymposium 2007 in Alexandria, Ontario. Click here (.5 min) to download his PowerPoint slides to follow along with his talk.