Ben Santer

What do you like about working at the Lab?

I have the privilege of coming in to work every day and learning something new about the complex climate system—and the privilege of working with extraordinarily talented scientists.

What do your day-to-day work activities include?

I study the nature and causes of climate change. This includes writing code to analyze and visualize simulation output from essentially all of the world’s major computer models of the climate system. I also mentor younger scientists and communicate climate change science to the public and policymakers.

What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?

I am really proud to have led pattern recognition studies that identified ubiquitous human “fingerprints” in the climate system.

What is your educational or career background?

I have a BSc in environmental sciences and a PhD in climatology. Both degrees are from the University of East Anglia in the U.K. I’ve worked at the Lab for 28 years.

What inspired you to go into your field of work?

I love working on complex scientific issues like the problem of detecting human-caused climate signals embedded in the rich, natural variability “noise” of the climate system.

What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?

The Lab is a terrific environment for doing collaborative, multi-disciplinary research. Make best use of opportunities to collaborate with (and learn from) your LLNL peers.

What do you do in your free time?

Rock climbing with my son.