The Boston Globe (and lots of other newspapers) reports that Prof. John Holdren has been appointed science advisor to the incoming Obama Administration.
Holdren, a physicist by training, is a professor of environmental policy at Harvard University, director of the Kennedy School's Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy, and director of the Woods Hole Research Center. He is also a past-president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
John was the head of the University of California at Berkeley's Energy and Resources Group, back when I was a grad student there. He taught ER100, the very first energy analysis course I ever took (among many others), and I was honoured to have him as a mentor.
John's appointment is good news in the ongoing effort to tackle climate change. He takes a clear-headed, evidence-based view to understanding environmental and energy challenges, and it's encouraging to know that he'll be at the heart of science policy in the new American administration.
