Esteemed climate scientist challenging the status quo in climate science communication
Patrick T. Brown, Ph.D., is a climate scientist specializing in extreme weather’s physical and economic impacts under climate change. His recent critiques of scientific publishing biases and climate science communication have sparked worldwide debate.
While Brown fully acknowledges the reality of climate change, he argues that incentives in climate research often misalign with producing the most actionable insights for society.
Brown is the co-director of the Climate and Energy Team at The Breakthrough Institute, head of Climate Analytics at Interactive Brokers, and an adjunct faculty member in the Energy Policy and Climate Program at Johns Hopkins University.
Brown argues that an excessive focus on negative climate impacts diverts attention from studying practical solutions. “The incentives facing researchers are not aligned with producing the most useful knowledge for society,” he says.
Brown’s research has appeared in journals such as Nature, PNAS, and Nature Climate Change. His research and commentary have also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, NPR, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and many others. Brown holds a Ph.D. in Earth and Climate Sciences from Duke University, a Master’s in Meteorology & Climate Science from San Jose State University, and a Bachelor’s in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has taught and conducted research at Stanford, Princeton, and Cal Tech. He has held research roles at NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Langley in Virginia, and NASA Goddard in Washington, DC. In late April 2025, Patrick Brown left The Breakthrough Institute to head up the climate analytics team at the Connecticut-based global markets platform, Interactive Brokers.
“Patrick Brown is trying to tell a complicated story about climate change. Many don’t want to hear it,” – Kate Yoder, Grist
“It’s easy to craft a persuasive argument—figuring out the truth is much more complicated.” – Patrick T. Brown, Ph.D.