January 9, 2015 - On December 12, 2014, Dr. Leonard Berry was honored for his work in understanding climate change with the President’s Distinguished Service Medallion, awarded to individuals who have rendered service of great value to Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and the community at large, for example, US Senator Bill Nelson. Upon receiving the award, Dr. Berry said, “It was an acknowledgement at the university level of the importance of this topic.” A lead author of Chapter 17, Southeast and the Caribbean, of the National Climate Assessment, Dr. Berry has worked on climate change issues locally, nationally and globally for over 40 years. He is the founder and immediate past Director (1994-2014) of the Florida Center for Environmental Studies, Emeritus Professor of Geosciences and the Director of the Climate Change Initiative at FAU. He is also an Executive Committee member of The Florida Climate Institute (FCI). In April 2012, he testified to the United States Senate full committee on Natural Resources and Energy on the impacts of sea level rise in Florida.
He has worked on environmental research and development training programs for USAID, UNDP, UNESCO, GEF and UNEP, and the World Bank. He is a core member of the Inter-American Water Resources Network, The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact’s sea level rise technical working group, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Community Resilience Group, Public Water Supply Utilities Climate Impacts Working Group, National Council for Science and the Environment, and the WaterWeb Consortium, an international water information group. Dr. Berry continues his work in climate change with FCI.
