Stephen W. Pacala


Stephen W. Pacala is the Frederick D. Petrie Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. Pacala was the Acting Director of the Princeton Environmental Institute from 2005 to 2006, and then served as its director from 2006 to 2014. He has worked on climate change, population ecology, and global interactions between the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. He was a lead author on the climate stabilization wedge project with Robert Socolow.
Professor Pacala received his B.A. in Biology from Dartmouth College in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Biology from Stanford University in 1982. He has taught at the University of Connecticut and Princeton University. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2007 and received the Robert H. MacArthur Award from the Ecological Society of America in 2010. He also serves on the boards of the non-profits, Environmental Defense Fund and Climate Central. Pacala was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003.