Conservation Firsthand
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WWF Experts
Richard Moss
Vice President and Managing Director for Climate Change
Education
- Ph.D. Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (University Fellowship), 1987.
- MPA. Princeton University (University Fellowship), 1983.
- B.A. Carleton College, Northfielid, MN (Magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), 1977.
Areas of Expertise
• Climate change science and scenarios
• Climate change impacts and vulnerability
• Evaluation and communication of uncertainty and risk
• Land use and land cover change
"Climate change and what we do about it is going to transform the world much more rapidly than people realize. It’s my goal to get us moving to a world we will want, not one we’ll regret leaving for our children and grandchildren.”
About Richard Moss:
Meet Richard
Richard has a passion for the environment that began long before he joined WWF. From turning his mother’s kitchen into an environmental research lab as a teen to being a member of the 2007 Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) team, Richard brings over 20 years of experience to WWF. Richard is at the forefront of WWF’s efforts to develop conservation plans that account for our changing climate and contribute to rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. He ensures that the best science and information is used in WWF’s planning, and that solutions to climate change are a global priority.
“A good day at work is one where I’ve gotten people who have disagreed in the past to come to the table and agree on a course of action.”
As a science-driven, global thinker, Richard is shaping WWF’s leadership role to focus on adapting to climate changes we can no longer avoid and getting real reductions in emissions as soon as possible. Among his many accomplishments in the climate field, Richard has played an influential role in the IPCC. He served as head of the technical staff of the impacts-adaptation-mitigation working group from 1993-1999. He edited or co-authored a number of IPCC reports including the Panel’s first examination of The Regional Impacts of Climate Change (1998). He also co-authored IPCC’s first methodology on consistently evaluating and communicating scientific uncertainty in assessments, used by authors of the IPCC’s Third Assessment Report.. He presently serves as co-chair of the IPCC Task Group on Data and Scenario Support for Impact and Climate Analysis. From 2000 to 2006, he served as director of the coordination office for the United States Climate Change Science Program, where he led preparation of the program’s ten-year Strategic Plan (2003) focusing on development and application of research to support decision making.
Whether he’s biking to work, chairing scientific meetings, or testifying before Congress, Richard is optimistic that technological, political, and social change can manage unavoidable climate change impacts and avoid truly unmanageable levels of climate change.
