Dr. Rebecca E. Morss is a Senior Scientist at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. At NSF NCAR, she founded the Weather Risks and Decisions in Society research group, and she previously served as Deputy Director of the Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology (MMM) Laboratory, Interim Director of MMM, and co-chair of the 2020-2024 NCAR Strategic Planning Steering Committee, among other leadership roles. Much of her work focuses on integrating knowledge, methods, and data across fields to address complex problems that bridge science with societal needs. Her research expertise includes weather-related prediction, predictability, risk communication, and decision making, with an emphasis on weather and climate hazards such as hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. She received a B.A. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA is the Founder and CEO of BayouClinic, and was the 18th United States Surgeon General (2009-2013). As America’s Doctor, she provided the public with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and the health of the nation. Dr. Benjamin also oversaw the operational command of 6,500 uniformed public health officers who serve in locations around the world to promote, and protect the health of the American People. As chair of the National Prevention Council – 17 cabinet-level Federal Agency Heads, she led the development of the National Prevention Strategy: America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness. Dr. Benjamin specializes in prevention policies and health promotion among individuals as well as large populations, especially concerning obesity, childhood obesity, and children’s health. She has special interest in rural health care, health disparities among socio-economic groups, suicide, violence, and mental health.

From her early days as the founder of a rural health clinic in Alabama to her leadership role in the worldwide advancement of preventive health, Dr. Regina Benjamin has forged a career that has been recognized by a broad spectrum of organizations and publications. In 1995, she was the first physician under the age of 40 and the first African-American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. Other past board memberships included the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Catholic Health Association, Morehouse School of Medicine, and ConvaTec PLC.

Dr Benjamin advises or consults with various companies, including technology and healthcare. She currently serves on the boards of Kaiser Hospitals and Health Plan; Ascension Health Alliance; Computer Technology Systems Inc (CPSI); Southern Research, and the American Heart Association.

Dr. Benjamin is a member of the Institute of Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She has been chosen as a Kellogg National Fellow and Rockefeller Next Generation Leader.

In 1998 Dr. Benjamin was the United States recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. She received the 2000 National Caring Award, which was inspired by Mother Teresa and was recognized with the Papal honor Pro Ecclesia et Ponticifice from Pope Benedict XVI. In 2008, she was honored with a MacArthur Genius Award Fellowship. In 2011, Dr. Benjamin became the recipient of the Chairman’s Award at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards In May 2013, Reader’s Digest, ranked her #22 of the “100 Most Trusted People in America.

Benjamin has a B.S. in chemistry from Xavier University, New Orleans, attended Morehouse School of Medicine, earned an MD degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and an MBA from Tulane University. She is the recipient of 30 honorary degrees

Virginia Burkett is the Chief Scientist for Climate and Land Use Change at the United States Geological Survey. Dr. Burkett has published roughly 100 journal articles, book chapters and reports that focus on wetlands, global change, and low-lying coastal systems. Burkett was as a Lead Author of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third, Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports and the IPCC Technical Paper on Water. She was also a Lead Author of the First, Second and Third National Climate Assessments. These high visibility reports underpinned climate policy at the global and national levels.

She served as USGS Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change and as Chair of the $2.4 billion US Global Change Research Program (2017-2019). Prior to leading the climate change science program at USGS, Burkett was Chief of the Forest Ecology Branch at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. Before her work at the Department of the Interior, Burkett was Secretary and Director of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, where she had formerly served as Deputy Secretary.

Burkett has been appointed to over 80 Commissions, Committees, Science Panels and Boards during her career. As a member of the Louisiana Governor’s Climate Initiatives Task Force, she served as Co-Chair of the Science Advisory Group to the Task Force (2021-2023). She presently co-chairs the International Activities Working Group of the US Group on Earth Observations. She participates in the US Climate Security Advisory Committee and the National Academies’ Climate Security Roundtable. She contributed to the 2021 National Intelligence Estimate of climate change on US national security.

Dr. Burkett is a U.S. delegate to the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations, which coordinates the collection and delivery of satellite and in-situ Earth Observations from 116 nations. She was elected Co-Chair of GEO’s Climate Change Working Group in 2020. She served as an Editor of the journal Regional Environmental Change (2012-2022) and she presently serves on the Editorial Boards of the Ethics in Science and Environmental Policy and Carbon Balance and Management. Burkett received her doctoral degree in Forestry from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1996.

Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd is a leading international expert in weather and climate and is the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Georgia. Dr. Shepherd was the 2013 President of American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation’s largest and oldest professional/science society in the atmospheric and related sciences. Dr. Shepherd serves as Director of the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Atmospheric Sciences Program and Full Professor in the Department of Geography where he was a previous Associate Department Head. Dr. Shepherd also holds a joint appointment in the College of Engineering and is the Associate Director for Climate and Outreach in its Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS).

In 2022, he was selected as Southeastern Conference (SEC) Professor of the year. In 2021, Dr. Shepherd made history by becoming the first UGA faculty member to be elected to the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the same year. He is one of only a handful of scholars to hold membership in all three distinguished organizations. Dr. Shepherd is also the host of The Weather Channel’s Award-Winning Sunday talk show Weather Geeks, a pioneering Sunday talk podcast/show and a senior contributor to Forbes Magazine. Dr. Shepherd is the recipient of many awards including the 2020 Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science and the 2019 AGU Climate Communication Prize. Dr. Shepherd is the 2018 recipient of the prestigious AMS Helmut Landsberg Award for pioneering and significant work in urban climate and in 2017, he was honored with the AMS Brooks Award, a high honor within the field of meteorology. Ted Turner and his Captain Planet Foundation honored Dr. Shepherd in 2014 with its Protector of the Earth Award. Prior recipients include Erin Brockovich and former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. He is also the 2015 Recipient of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Media Achievement award, the Florida State University Grads Made Good Award and the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Sandy Beaver Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2015, Dr. Shepherd was invited to moderate the White House Champions for Change event. He is an alumni of the prestigious SEC Academic Leadership Fellows program. Prior to UGA, Dr. Shepherd spent 12 years as a Research Meteorologist at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center and was Deputy Project Scientist for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, a multi-national space mission that launched in 2014. President Bush honored him on May 4th 2004 at the White House with the Presidential Early Career Award for pioneering scientific research in weather and climate science. Dr. Shepherd is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Two national magazines, the AMS, and Florida State University have also recognized Dr. Shepherd for his significant contributions. Dr. Shepherd was the 2016 Spring Undergraduate Commencement speaker at his 3-time Alma Mater, Florida State University. He was also the 2017 Graduate Commencement speaker at the University of Georgia.

Dr. Shepherd is frequently sought as an expert on weather, climate, and remote sensing. He routinely appears on CBS Face The Nation, NOVA, The Today Show, CNN, Fox News, The Weather Channel and several others. His TedX Atlanta Talk on “Slaying Climate Zombies” is one of the most viewed climate lectures on YouTube. Dr. Shepherd is also frequently asked to advise key leaders at NASA, the White House, Congress, Department of Defense, and officials from foreign countries. In February 2013, Dr. Shepherd briefed the U.S. Senate on climate change and extreme weather. He has also written several editorials for CNN, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal Constitution, and numerous other outlets and has been featured in Time Magazine, Popular Mechanics, and NPR Science Friday.

Dr. Shepherd currently serves on the Board of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Academies and the Space Studies Board. He recently served on a committee examining research priorities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He has chaired the NASA Earth Sciences Advisory Committee and was a past member of its Earth Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Nature Conservancy (Georgia Chapter), NOAA Science Advisory Board, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s Hazard Preparedness Advisory Group United Nations World Meteorological Organization steering committee on aerosols and precipitation, 2007 Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR4 contributing author team, National Academies of Sciences (NAS) Panels on climate and national security, extreme weather attribution, and urban meteorology. Dr. Shepherd is a past editor for both the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology and Geography Compass, respectively. He has been a significant founding partner in the Georgia Climate Project as well.

Dr. Shepherd received his B.S., M.S. and PhD in physical meteorology from Florida State University. He was the first African American to receive a PhD from the Florida State University Department of Meteorology, one of the nation’s oldest and respected. He is also the 2nd African American to preside over the American Meteorological Society. He is a member of the AMS, American Geophysical Union, Association of American Geographers (AAG), Sigma Xi Research Honorary, Chi Epsilon Pi Meteorology Honorary, and Omicron Delta Kappa National Honorary. He is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and serves on various National Boards associated with his alma mater. Dr. Shepherd has authored or co-authored three books and is also the co-founder of the Alcova Elementary Weather Science Chat series that exposes K-5 students to world-class scientists. Dr. Shepherd is originally from Canton, Georgia.

Antonio J. Busalacchi became president of UCAR in August 2016. An expert in Earth’s climate system and ocean-atmosphere interactions, he helps guide NCAR’s world-leading research into the Earth system sciences and its support of the research community through supercomputing, observing instruments, and community models.

Under Busalacchi's leadership, UCAR in 2018 signed an agreement with the National Science Foundation to continue its management of NCAR. He also oversees UCAR Community Programs, which provides data, observations, and other services to researchers worldwide. His priorities include fostering a broad interdisciplinary approach into researching the Earth system, increasing diversity across the geosciences, and being the best possible steward of the taxpayer investment in NCAR and UCAR.

Busalacchi has a distinguished career in the geosciences; extensive experience in management of academic, laboratory, and government programs; and a broad knowledge of the research community. A nationally recognized expert on science policy, Busalacchi has advised policy makers and testified to Congress on the importance of continued federal support for Earth system science. He collaborates frequently with government officials, private sector leaders, and the academic community to advance research in ways that help save lives and property, strengthen the economy, and safeguard national security.

Prior to his appointment at UCAR, Busalacchi served as director of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) at the University of Maryland, where he helped coordinate research into the oceans, atmosphere, and other aspects of the Earth system. He was also a professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science.

After receiving a Ph.D. in oceanography from Florida State University, Busalacchi began his professional career at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He has studied tropical ocean circulation, its role in the coupled climate system, and phenomena such as El Niño. His interests include the development and application of numerical models combined with in situ and space-based ocean observations to study the tropical ocean response to surface fluxes of momentum and heat. His research on climate variability and predictability has supported a range of international and national research programs dealing with global change and climate, particularly as affected by the oceans.

In 1991, he was appointed chief of NASA’s Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes and member of the Senior Executive Service. In 2000, he was selected as the founding director of ESSIC. Busalacchi also has been involved in the activities of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) for many years. From 2008-2014 he chaired the Joint Scientific Committee that oversaw the WCRP. Previously he was co-chair of the scientific steering group for its sub-program on Climate Variability and Predictability.

Busalacchi has served extensively on National Academy of Science/National Research Council activities, including as chair of the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, chair of the Climate Research Committee, chair of the Committee on Earth Science and Application: Ensuring the Climate Measurements from NPOESS and GOES-R, and co-chair of the Committee on National Security Implications of Climate Change on U.S. Naval Forces. He also has served as a member of the Committee on Earth Studies, Institute of Medicine Committee on the Effect of Climate Change on Indoor Air Quality and Public Health, Committee on Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Social and Political Stresses, and Committee on the Assessment of NASA’s Earth Science Program.

In 2016, Busalacchi was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2014 he was elected as chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science "Section W" on Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences. That year he was also elected to UCAR’s Board of Trustees.

Busalacchi has received numerous other awards and honors throughout his career. In 1991, he was the recipient of the prestigious Arthur S. Flemming Award, as one of five outstanding young scientists in the entire federal government. In 1995 he was selected as Alumnus of the Year at Florida State University, in 1997 he was the H. Burr Steinbach Visiting Scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and in 1999 he was awarded the NASA/Goddard Excellence in Outreach Award and the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award. He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.