Associate Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science Eugene Cordero

Associate Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science Eugene Cordero.

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

Associate Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science Eugene Cordero has been named a Google Science Communication Fellow.

Google announced the selection of its 21 fellows last week. The fellows all have some history of outreach working with the general public in the climate science field, and were chosen based on their ability to communicate their expertise in ways that the general public can understand. Other considerations included technical and social media skills, and the use of Google products.

“We will together explore technology and ways of interacting with people to come up with new ways to communicate climate science to a broader community,” said Cordero.

Google took interest in Cordero because of his public-education and outreach experience with climate change. In addition to eight years at San Jose State, Cordero spent five years at an Australian research university studying ozone depletion, and has given over 100 public talks on a book he co-authored. “Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite out of Global Warming” focuses on food choices and the connection they have with the environment. Cordero has also created a climate-action superhero, the Green Ninja, to educate online audiences about climate science.

A three-day workshop at Google, designed to open up scientific dialogue, is set for June.  After the workshop, the Google Science Communication Fellows will be given the opportunity to apply for grants to continue with their projects. The most influential projects will win a Lindblad Expeditions & National Geographic trip to the Arctic, representing the voyage as a science communicator.

“I look forward to interacting with people and making this information mainstream,” says Cordero.

The Department of Meteorology and Climate Science added climate science as a new major last fall. The new concentration focuses on weather climate and using modules to see what affect humans are having on the planet. The main focus is on climate and weather, but other broader topics include the energy of water, agriculture and carbon emissions.#