Meet Dan Cziczo, PhD

Daniel Cziczo, Ph.D. Professor and Department Head of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University

Dr. Cziczo is an expert on atmospheric particles and their cloud formations, and the relationship between clouds and climate. Before Dr. Cziczo moved from MIT, where he was a Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry, to Purdue University, he appeared several times for Science for the Public and also served on the SftPublic Board. His expertise and his commitment to public outreach have been of great value.

Dr. Cziczo appeared 09/24/24 on SftPublic's Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations program, a WGBH Forum Network webinar: Solar Geoengineering: What You Need to Know

He appeared (zoom) 09/26/23 on SftPublic's Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations program to discuss the latest developments in Analyzing Clouds and Climate Change

The recordings below were made while he was at MIT:

  • SftPublic Science Lectures Series (September, 2017): Clouds, Chemistry and Climate Change: Why Our Current Climate Is What It Is
  • Working Science (April, 2016): What to Know about Geoengineering. Dr. Cziczo explains the crisis of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere: the CO2 will remain in the atmosphere well into the future, even if we could immediately switch to renewable energy today. He explains the three geoengineering approaches to dealing with that problem, two of which are "masking" strategies, and the third a removal strategy. Only the third is viable.
  • Working Science (March, 2015): filmed at the Cziczo Lab at MIT. In this video The Science of Clouds and Climate Dr. Cziczo demonstrates with a cloud chamber how particles (aerosols) in the atmosphere form clouds, and he shows the kinds of equipment used for the analysis of atmospheric aerosols. This video includes some footage of Dr, Cziczo and others at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.
  • Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations (October,2013) Reading the Clouds to Understand Climate Change, where he explains how atmospheric particles (aerosols) trigger cloud formation, and what the various types of aerosols in cirrus clouds are revealing about climate change.