#32 Computing the climate with Steve Easterbrook

We are delighted to share our interview with Dr. Steve Easterbrook, Professor of Computer Science and Director of the School for the Environment at the University of Toronto. Before coming to U of T, Steve was a faculty member at the University of Sussex and then a lead scientist at the NASA Independent Verification and Validation Facility. Karen first met Steve when I was a visiting graduate student at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, where one of the world’s leading climate models is developed. Steve studies climate modelling from a computer science perspective and, as you will hear, Steve visited several of these climate modelling institutions, exploring how climate models are developed and how scientists use them. His research in this area has evolved into a new book entitled, Computing the Climate: How we know what we know about climate change, appearing on bookshelves this summer.  In our conversation with Steve, he shared his motivation for writing the book and what he hopes readers will get out of it. We also talked about where the field of climate modelling is headed and how AI has the potential to improve the representation of complex processes within climate models. As Director of the School for the Environment, Steve has a keen interest in student learning and transdisciplinary research and education, and we talked about approaches to embedding sustainability literacy into post-secondary education across the board. It was great to chat with Steve and don’t forget to keep an eye out for his book, Computing the Climate, which arrives this summer.  https://www.environment.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/steve-easterbrook https://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/computer-science/computing-and-society/computing-climate-how-we-know-what-we-know-about-climate-change?format=PB&isbn=9781107589926#