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Dr. Davidson Robinson addresses Blair's Society of Skeptics
Dr. Davidson Robinson addresses Blair's Society of Skeptics
Dr. Davidson Robinson addresses Blair's Society of Skeptics
Physical Geographer & Climatologist Dr. David Robinson Revisited Society of Skeptics
Paula Hong '16

It is the topic of all topics–the weather. We ask our friends and family every day, “What do you think the weather will be?” or “Who knows what the temperature is outside?” Seldom do we get the benefit of a climate expert, which is why Blair Academy was excited to welcome Rutgers University—New Brunswick professor and New Jersey State Climatologist Dr. David Robinson to speak at the Society of Skeptics on Tuesday, October 4. 

Having visited Blair Academy and delivered two previous Skeptics talks, Dr. Robinson came to the hilltop prepared. The title of his presentation asked students to consider the “Signs of a Changing Climate” and he planned to explore with them recent weather and climatic events and anomalies. In addition to his questions (and spoilers), the climate expert also explained how scientists predict certain climatic variables such as temperature, sea ice, extreme storms and sea levels, and how those factors are used to model global weather and climate patterns in the coming decades.
 
“My key message will be one of understanding the climate system and the profound changes that are occurring within it,” said Dr. Robinson in a pre-talk interview. “Before individuals and society as a whole can address matters associated with climate change, they must have a foundational grasp of the issue. With such, they will be best prepared to formulate and implement mitigative and adaptive means of addressing change.”
 
On the note about “change,” Dr. Robinson will speak to the difficulties that a career in the weather field can bring. As a young boy, he fell in love with snow, and little did he know that interest would snowball into studying the climate as a career. Dr. Robinson says that climate’s “unapologetic unpredictability,” which may frustrate some, makes him find his field “fascinating.”
 
“I am exceedingly grateful to have had the opportunity to pursue a discipline that I’ve been fascinated with for as long as I can remember. Climate is critically important to addressing such problematic issues as sufficient water and food and environmental justice,” said Dr. Robinson. 
“The best lesson I have learned is to pursue what interests you most so that, at the end of the day, you feel that you have helped to make a difference in solving a problem.”
 
As a professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Dr. Robinson is often surrounded by young academics eager to learn from his experience. To these individuals, Dr. Robinson says, “Whether young or old, everyone must get on board to address these [issues of climate change]. Speaking to young individuals not only raises awareness, it also may spark someone to pursue an educational avenue that will make them a part of the solution to the climate crisis.”
 
Dr. Robinson says he owes his upcoming visit to his college friend and Blair English teacher, Craig Evans, who first introduced him to Blair Academy and the Society of Skeptics back in 2008. Just as he did then, Dr. Robinson looks forward to speaking to Blair’s students, “knowing full well that young folks are our future!”
 

Click "play" below to watch Dr. Robinson's Skeptics presentation. 


History of Skeptics
 
The Society of Skeptics was established as a forum for students and faculty to discuss and debate important global issues; it has grown to become one of the premier high school lecture series in the United States. Each week, speakers from the political, social, scientific, economic and literary arenas share their unique perspectives with students, who are encouraged to engage with presenters, asking questions and debating points of view.

The program, which is funded in part by the Class of 1968 Society of Skeptics Endowment Fund, is an outgrowth of the Blair International Society, begun in 1937. Forty years later, former history department chair Elliott Trommald, PhD, Hon. ’65, established the modern Skeptics program as a regular forum for student discussion and debate; history teacher Martin Miller, PhD, took over in the mid-1980s and molded the program into a weekly lecture series, one that has since continued without interruption. Under the tutelage of Dr. Miller and his successor, history department chair Jason Beck, Skeptics has featured a wide variety of speakers who are thought-provoking, engaging, accomplished in their respective fields and often controversial. For a listing of upcoming Skeptics programs, please visit Blair’s website.

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