Editing Gordon McBean

{{Short description|Canadian climatologist}}
{{infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL}}
'''Gordon McBean''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}} is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[climatology|climatologist]] who serves as chairman of the board of trustees of the [[Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences]]. He is a [[professor]] at the [[University of Western Ontario]] and Chair for Policy in the [[Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction]].  Previously he was the Assistant Deputy Minister of [[Meteorological Service of Canada]].

==Biography==
Professor McBean was born in British Columbia, Canada. He studied [[physics]] at [[McGill University]] and obtained a PhD in physics and [[oceanography]] from the [[University of British Columbia]] (UBC), Vancouver, in 1970.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://westerngazette.ca/culture/profiles/gordon-mcbean-rings-the-warning-bells-for-climate-change/article_7c74f41e-d564-11e8-aaba-b3b294ae0275.html| title=Gordon McBean rings the warning bells for climate change |author=Gabrielle Drolet |date=October 23, 2018|journal=Western Gazette|publisher=Western University}}</ref><ref name=UBC>{{cite web|url=https://www.geog.ubc.ca/ubc-alumni-award-gordon-mcbean/| title=UBC Alumni Award: Gordon McBean |date=2020|work=Departement of Geography|publisher=University of British Columbia}}</ref>

From 1970 to 1988, McBean was a scientist with Environment Canada. In 1988, he became Professor of Geography and Chair of the Atmospheric Sciences Program and in 1992, Professor of Oceanography and Head of the Department of Oceanography.<ref name=UBC/> He returned to Environment Canada as Assistant Deputy Minister from 1994 to 2000, responsible for climate, weather and air quality sciences and services in the federal government.<ref name=UBC/><ref name=ICSU/>

In 1995, McBean gave a speech to the [[World Meteorological Organization]] on [[global warming]]. In 2006, McBean, with [[Andrew Weaver]] and Ken Denman, authored an [[open letter]], signed by 90 Canadian climate scientists, to [[Prime Minister]] [[Stephen Harper]] calling for an effective national climate change strategy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Canada's top climate scientists issue open letter to Prime Minister Harper calling for action on climate change |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184438/http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2006/19/c8968.html |date=April 19, 2006 |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2006/19/c8968.html |archive-date=2007-09-30|work=Newswire press release}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfcas.org/LettertoPM19apr06e.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823102018/http://communications.uwo.ca/making_headlines/coverage/060419-2.htm |archive-date=2007-08-23| publisher=Univ. of Western Ontario|title=Act now on climate change, scientists tell Canada |author=David Ljunggren |agency=Reuters |date=April 19, 2006}}</ref>
<!--<ref>{{cite new|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630154241/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070129.wxclimate29/BNStory/ClimateChange/home/?pageRequested=3 |archive-date=2008-06-30 |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070129.wxclimate29/BNStory/ClimateChange/home/?pageRequested=3| journal=Globe and Mail}}</ref>-->The letter was a response to an earlier open letter to Harper from 60 scientists (seven of them climatologists, 19 of them Canadians) arguing against the Kyoto accord and questioning its scientific basis.<ref>{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512140810/http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=3711460e-bd5a-475d-a6be-4db87559d605 |archive-date=2012-05-12|journal=National Post |date=April 6, 2006 |access-date= April 20, 2007 |url=http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=3711460e-bd5a-475d-a6be-4db87559d605 |title=Open to Kyoto debate|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In addition to his involvement with the [[Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences]], McBean is member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences partnerships committee and since 2014 president of the [[International Council for Science]] (ICSU) <ref name=ICSU>{{cite web|url=http://www.icsu.org/about-icsu/structure/executive-board/?icsudocid=president|title=Official ICSU Web Page|access-date=2015-12-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208193123/http://www.icsu.org/about-icsu/structure/executive-board/?icsudocid=president|archive-date=2015-12-08|url-status=dead}}</ref> (before 2014 member of the environment advisory committee).

In 2018, he was professor in the Departments of Geography, Political Science and Physics at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, and is currently Director of Policy Studies at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction and Co-Director of the Centre for Environment and Sustainability there. He also acts as a mentor for the [[Loran Scholars Foundation]].

==Awards and honours==
* MSC [[Patterson Medal]], 1989<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cmosarchives.ca/Awards/Patterson/patterson.html|title=Honour Roll: The Patterson Distinguished Service Medal|publisher=[[Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society]] (CMOS)}}</ref>
* CMOS President's Prize
* [[Environment Canada]] Jim Bruce Award
* McBean has been a long-standing contributor to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)]], an organisation that was jointly awarded the [[2007 Nobel Peace Prize]] together with [[Al Gore]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geography.uwo.ca/Honours/Index.html |title=Gordon A. McBean, Ph.D., FRSC, Nobel Peace Prize Co-recipient |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314122537/http://geography.uwo.ca/Honours/Index.html |archive-date=2012-03-14 }}</ref>
* In 2010, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=13570|title=Order of Canada Investiture Ceremony March 31, 2010|date=20 September 2017 }}</ref>
* In 2011, he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.ontario.ca/mci/en/2011/01/29-appointees-named-to-ontarios-highest-honour-1.html|title=30 Appointees Named To Ontario's Highest Honour|access-date=2011-02-10|archive-date=2019-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213162952/https://news.ontario.ca/mci/en/2011/01/29-appointees-named-to-ontarios-highest-honour-1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In 2015, he received the [[American Geophysical Union|AGU]] Ambassador Award and was made a Fellow of the [[International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://cgu-ugc.ca/cguwp/elements/Elem_Jan15.pdf |title=President's Column |magazine=Elements: The Newsletter of the Canadian Geophysical Union |date=January 2015 |volume=21 |number=1}}</ref>
* In 2017, he received the [[International Meteorological Organization Prize]], the highest award from the [[World Meteorological Organisation]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bulletin.cmos.ca/tag/gordon-mcbean/|title=Gordon McBean|publisher=[[Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society]] (CMOS)|journal=CMOS Bulletin|date=2018-07-05}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.cfcas.org/bios/gordon-mcbean-chair/ CFCAS writeup on Gordon McBean]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McBean, Gordon}}
[[Category:Canadian climatologists]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Ontario]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of British Columbia alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors]]