Gary Comer Global Warming Conference Keynote Address with Andrew Revkin

Concern about global warming is increasing in American households as warnings of a potential climate change catastrophe are proliferating in the media. Consumers are becoming more interested in sustainable products ranging from the laundry detergent they use to the cars they drive. In the end, can a change in consumers' behavior alter the course of global warming?

Join us the morning of March 1st for a keynote speech from Andrew Revkin, environmental reporter for the New York Times. His speech "The Daily Planet: Life on the Highly Imperfect Interface Between the Media and the Climate" will be streamed online at www.mpr.org beginning at 9:10 a.m.

Later that evening, MPR will host a Public Insight Forum, moderated by MPR's Cathy Wurzer. This forum will bring together consumers to discuss their concerns about climate change and if it is leading them to change their behavior. A group of experts ranging from economists to climate experts will help inform the discussion. This event will also be streamed online www.mpr.org beginning at 6:55 p.m.

These events are hosted as part of the Gary Comer Global Warming Conference at Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media.

Andrew C. Revkin
New York Times environment reporter and author

One of America's most honored science writers, Andrew Revkin has spent a quarter of a century covering subjects ranging from Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami to the assault on the Amazon, from the troubled relationship of science and politics to climate change at the North Pole. He has been reporting on the environment for The New York Times since 1995. In 2003, he became one of the first journalists to file stories and photos from the sea ice around the North Pole. He recently exposed efforts by political appointees to rewrite government climate reports and prevent NASA scientists from conveying their views on warming.

His climate coverage won the first National Academies Communication Award for print journalism, presented by the nation's top scientific body. He has twice won the Science Journalism Award of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science and also an Investigative Reporters & Editors Award. He has a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship to support his next book, a search for sustainability. Revkin has been a pioneer in multimedia journalism, blogging, podcasting, and shooting still and video imagery in far-flung places. In 2005 he won an Award of Excellence in the Pictures of the Year competition, for an image of an Arctic scientist shot in darkness, 30-below temperatures, and blowing snow on Alaska's North Slope.

Mr. Revkin's latest book, "The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World" (Kingfisher/New York Times 2006), is the first account of global and Arctic climate change written for the whole family. The Washington Post concluded simply: "Bundle up and read." It was named one of the outstanding science books of 2006 by the National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council.

His first book was "The Burning Season" (2004 updated edition, Island Press), which chronicles the life of Chico Mendes, the slain leader of the movement to save the Amazon. The book was published in 10 languages, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and was the basis for the HBO film of the same name, starring Raul Julia and directed by John Frankenheimer. The film won three Golden Globe awards and two Emmys. Mr. Revkin also wrote "Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast" (Abbeville, 1992), which accompanied the first museum exhibition on climate change, created by the American Museum of Natural History.

Mr. Revkin also writes occasionally about music, and his 1997 Times profile of a heavy-metal singer was the basis for "Rock Star," a 2001 Warner Bros. film starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. He has a biology degree from Brown and a masters in journalism from Columbia. Mr. Revkin has taught at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism and Bard College and written two book chapters on the media and the environment.

He lives in the Hudson River Valley with his wife and two sons. In spare moments, he is a performing songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and occasionally accompanies Pete Seeger at regional shows and plays in a bluesy-twangy band, Uncle Wade.