William Moomaw

Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy, Tufts University

William Moomaw is Professor of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where he is the founding director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, the Tufts Climate Initiative and co-founder of the Global Development and Environment Institute. He graduated from Williams in 1959, and is a physical chemist with a PhD from MIT. He works to translate science and technology into policy terms using interdisciplinary tools. His major publications are on climate change, energy policy, nitrogen pollution, forestry financing and management and on theoretical topics such as the Environmental Kuznets Curve. He was a coordinating lead author of the 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chapter on greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and for the special report on renewable energy due in 2010. He was a lead author of three other IPCC reports (1995, 2005 and 2007). The work of the IPCC was recognized with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He also was an author for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment on nitrogen and serves on the Integrated Nitrogen Committee of the EPA Science Advisory board. He was the first director of the Climate, Energy and Pollution program at the World Resources Institute, and directed the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College where he held an endowed chair in chemistry. He has received Teaching Awards at both Williams and at The Fletcher School, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Belgrade for his work on sustainable development. As an AAAS Congressional Science Fellow, he worked on legislation that eliminated American use of CFCs in spray cans to protect the ozone layer, and also worked on energy and forestry legislation. Dr. Moomaw currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Climate Group, Clean Air-Cool Planet (which he co-founded), Earthwatch Institute, Center for Ecological Technologies and the Consensus Building Institute. He has facilitated sessions with negotiators of international treaties. He and his wife, Margot have just completed a highly efficient zero net energy home in Williamstown that uses no fossil fuels. It is one of a handful of such homes to be built in northern climate zones, and its performance is being monitored for performance for the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.