Stephen Pekar is a geologist, past climate research scientist, writer, and classical music composer. He is a full professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Queens College, which is part of the City University of New York.
His research focuses on past climate and oceanographic changes during times (16- 45 million years ago) when carbon dioxide (the greenhouse gas that is most responsible for climate change) was as high as what is predicted for the 21st century (450-1000 ppm). With CO2 rising rapidly today due to fossil fuel use and changes in land use (e.g., cutting down forests, etc.), humanity has started an uncontrolled experiment that is like putting our climate on a “hot plate”. With greenhouse gases rising to levels not seen in over ten million years, exploring these past time intervals for him are like “Looking Back to Our Future”.
His current research projects can be broadly divided into two groups:
1) Unlocking the climatic and cryospheric (i.e., glacial) history of Antarctica
2) Global paleoceanographic and climatic changes over the past 50 million years.
To tackle these problems, he develops sedimentological, microfossil, and geochemical records obtained from sedimentary cores that were taken from near-shore to the deep-sea. These are used to extract past climatic, oceanographic, and global sea-level signals at the decadal- to million-year scale. His research has taken him on expeditions around the world, including the exploration of the newly named eighth continent of our planet, Zealandia, and four science expedition to Antarctica, one of which he was the co-project leader.
Dr. Pekar is strongly dedicated to promoting science education and illustrating the beauty and excitement of science both for his students and general public. In this regard, he is committed to focusing on climate change and how his research in past climate can help us understand present changes and better predict our future climate.
As a climate scientist, he is aware how human-induced climate change is the worst crisis ever to face humanity. It has the potential to stress and change the environment to the point that civilization will be threatened in the coming decades.
Dr. Pekar speaks about climate with the goal of showing the general public the realities of climate change and how it will affect their lives. As an example, He often says during his talks,
If the public knew what climate scientists know, they would be so angry that they would figuratively pick up a pitchfork and march over to their local politicians and favorite news channels demanding they tell them the truth about the looming climate catastrophe awaiting us in the very near future.
Dr. Pekar currently engages the public about the threat of climate change through talks (e.g., distinguished Lecturer), TV appearances (e.g., panelist on two of Al Gore’s 24-hour live streaming specials) to writing a book about climate change and who is responsible (i.e., the billionaire class). Click on the Public speaking tab to watch some of Dr. Pekar’s public talks and interviews.
Background
Steve Pekar is a Queens native, growing up in the Rockaways and attending Queens College, first as a 20th century music composition major before receiving a BA in Education. He received his Ph.D. in Geology from Rutgers University and was a Research Post Doctoral Scientist at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University for three years, before becoming a professor at Queens College
He thinks of scientists as being like detectives, trying to collect clues to unravel mysteries and puzzles about our planet. For him, geologists are also like time travelers; detectives who go back in time to recreate distant long-lost worlds that are so different from our modern world that they would rival any sci fi thriller in terms of their uniqueness and unfamiliar to what we know today. In addition, he tries to decipher time intervals when greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide) was higher than today.
Education
Undergraduate Student
Graduate Student
Post Doctoral Research Scientist
