Americans have never been more concerned about climate change. According to the latest polls, most of the country now believes that climate change is affecting them personally and wants the president to do more to address it. How can understanding the perceptions of a broadly concerned public enable our leaders to create lasting change? How do climate concerns break down across political, economic and regional divides?

Climate One is pleased to honor Anthony Leiserowitz and Edward Maibach with the tenth annual Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communications. At a time when understanding climate perceptions has never been more important, Dr. Leiserowitz and Dr. Maibach have exemplified the ability to be both scientists and powerful communicators through their work on the public’s understanding of climate change, including the seminal Global Warming’s Six Americas project.

“No one has done more to help us understand how the American people understand climate change than Tony Leiserowitz and Ed Maibach,” notes award juror Dr. Naomi Oreskes. “Their work has set the standard for social scientific investigations of what Americans think about climate change and why they think it.”

Established in honor of Stephen H. Schneider, one of the founding fathers of climatology, the $15,000 Schneider Award recognizes a natural or social scientist who has made extraordinary scientific contributions and communicated that knowledge to a broad public in a clear, compelling fashion.

“I am so honored to receive the 2020 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication with my dear friend and colleague Dr. Ed Maibach,” shared Dr. Leiserowitz. “It’s an enormous honor to join such an amazing, pioneering and courageous group of climate science communicators.”

“As a public health professional, I’m battling to save Earth’s climate because doing so is necessary to protect the health and wellbeing of everyone alive today, and all who are yet to come—especially the least privileged of us, who are the most vulnerable,” said Dr. Maibach.