Christopher Field facts for kids

Christopher B. Field is an American scientist. He is a researcher who has greatly helped us understand climate change. He has written over 300 science papers. His work looks at how climate change affects everything. This includes tiny molecules and the whole planet.

Dr. Field studies how California grasslands react to global changes. He also studies the carbon cycle around the world. This is how carbon moves through the Earth's systems. He also looks at how climate change affects farming. His work with computer models helps us understand where carbon comes from and goes. He also studies the environmental effects of using more biomass energy.

About Christopher Field

Early Life and Education

Christopher Field was born in California in 1953. He grew up in California, Arizona, and Wyoming. His family moved often for his father's sawmill business. He remembers his childhood being mostly in nature.

When he was in middle school, a book called "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau inspired him. He often wrote notes in his copy of the book. In high school, he was a top student and a National Merit Scholar.

In 1975, Dr. Field graduated from Harvard College. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology. Then he went to Stanford University. There, he earned his PhD in biological sciences in 1981. His research looked at how a leaf works with the rest of a plant. He also studied how to measure photosynthesis using leaf data. He chose this topic because he was curious about how big parts of Earth are made from small pieces. This research led him to study the carbon cycle and climate change.

As my work on scaling progressed, it ran quickly into the conclusion that the Earth is changing. Not only through big changes in climate, but also big changes in land use and the composition of the atmosphere, with more and more effects on plants and animals.

—Christopher Field

Career and Research

From 1981 to 1984, Dr. Field was a professor of biology. He taught at the University of Utah. In 1984, he became a staff scientist for the Carnegie Institution for Science. In 1986, he started working as an assistant professor at Stanford.

In 2002, Dr. Field started Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology. This was the first new department at the Carnegie Institute in 70 years.

In 2005, Dr. Field became the faculty director of the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. This is a nature preserve run by Stanford. He worked to connect Jasper Ridge more closely with the main Stanford campus. While there, he wrote 78 articles about his research at Jasper Ridge. This was more than anyone else.

Since 2016, Dr. Field has been the director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. His research focuses on climate change solutions. He looks for ways to improve lives now and slow down future warming. He also wants to support strong economies. Recently, Dr. Field has focused on coastal flooding and wildfires. California has seen more wildfires in recent years.

Work with the IPCC and Nobel Peace Prize

Dr. Field worked for the United Nations. He was part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This group received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. The award honored all the scientists who helped write IPCC reports. It was for their work to share knowledge about human-made climate change. It also recognized their efforts to set up ways to fight these changes. Dr. Field received a medal and a copy of the Nobel Peace Prize diploma. He said he was "blown away" that the IPCC won.

From 2008 to 2015, Dr. Field was a co-chair for an IPCC working group. In February 2015, the US State Department considered him for the IPCC Chair position. However, Korean economist Hoesung Lee was chosen for the role.

Personal Life

Dr. Field is married and has two adult children. His wife is also a scientist. She works at Stanford's nature preserve. Neither of his children work in science. He said he encouraged them to follow their own interests. He believes we need people in many different jobs, not just scientists.

Dr. Field often walks or bikes to get around. In 2014, he shared that he and his wife had spent years fixing up an old house. They made it very energy efficient. He also enjoys hiking and being outdoors in nature.