Sebastian Mernild
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Jacob Sebastian Haugaard Mernild (born 20 October 1972) is a Danish professor in climate change, glaciology and hydrology, who is the pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Southern Denmark.[1] Mernild has been an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) author for the United Nations since 2010. Initially a contributing author on the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, he was lead author on the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.[2]
Sebastian H. Mernild | |
---|---|
Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southern Denmark | |
Assumed office October 2020 | |
Chancellor | Henrik Dam |
Preceded by | Bjarne Graabech Sørensen |
Director (Program Chair) of Climate Centre of the University of Southern Denmark | |
Assumed office 2021 | |
Director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC) | |
In office December 2016 – October 2020 | |
Succeeded by | Tore Furevik |
Vice President of the International Commission on Snow and Ice Hydrology (under IAHS) | |
In office 1 June 2015 – 31 May 2019 | |
Personal details | |
Born | (1972-10-20) 20 October 1972 (age 51) Frederiksberg, Denmark |
Spouse | Birgitte Therkildsen |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | Odense, Denmark (current) Bergen, Norway (formerly) |
Alma mater | University of Copenhagen |
Awards | Rosenkjær Prize [da] (2018) |
Website | https://mernild.com/ |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Denmark |
Branch/service | Royal Danish Army |
Years of service | 1995–2010 |
Rank | Captain (Artillery) |
Battles/wars | Kosovo & Afghan War |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Climate Change, Glaciology, Hydrology, Climatology |
Institutions | Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, New York University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Hokkaido University, Center for Scientific Studies, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, International Arctic Research Center |
Mernild is one of the world's leading climate scientists in the fields of glaciology and hydrology, specializing in the impacts of climate change in the Arctic and on the cryosphere, especially the ice sheets (glacier mass balance) and water levels. He has contributed to a number of international scientific reports, including the annual Arctic Report Card from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Melting Snow and Ice: A Call for Action[3] report, which Vice President Al Gore presented at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2015.[4][5][6]
Mernild has worked as a senior research scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, United States, and as research director of the Climate Change and Glaciology Laboratory at the Center for Scientific Studies in Valdivia, Chile. He has on several occasions been a visiting professor at Colorado State University, University of Colorado Boulder, New York University, Hokkaido University, and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.[7]
In 2016, he became the managing director of the 'Nansen Center' (part of Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research) in Bergen, Norway, a renowned climate research centre in Europe.[8][9][10][11] He was elected pro-vice-chancellor (Danish: Prorektor) of the University of Southern Denmark in 2020.[12]