Dr. Richard Alley

Biography

Richard Alley is the Evan Pugh University Professor at Penn State University in the Department of Geosciences. He earned his Ph.D. in Geology from Wisconsin-Madison in 1987. His research focuses on glaciology, ice, climate, sea level change, and abrupt climate change. He has conducted extensive field research, having made four trips to Antarctica and nine to Greenland, as well as other locations. Alley has been recognized for his contributions to research and education, including an election to the National Academy of Sciences and Foreign Membership in the Royal Society. He was a participant in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to his scholarly activities, Alley has authored and coauthored over 300 refereed scientific papers, appeared in the PBS miniseries "Earth: Operators’ Manual," and published a popular book on climate change and ice cores titled "Two-Mile Time Machine," which was recognized as the science book of the year by Phi Beta Kappa. He enjoys spending time with his family, including his wife and grown daughters, and his home life includes a cat.

Research Interests