Swiss climate researcher wins coveted prize

Switzerland's top science prize has been awarded to environmental researcher Thomas Stocker at a ceremony in Bern on Wednesday. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

The University of BernExternal link professor received the Marcel Benoist PrizeExternal link, described as the ‘Swiss Nobel Prize’ for science, for his ground-breaking work on the consequences of climate change. The award is worth CHF250,000 ($249,500). 

Professor Stocker is a key figure in climate research on both the national and international stages. At the beginning of his career in the late 1980s, he focused on theoretical modelling, before later incorporating findings from various climate archives into these models. 

He notably discovered a close connection between changes in ocean currents and climate. Along with his team he has also conducted ice core drilling expeditions to Greenland and the Antarctic, and has been able to determine levels of greenhouse gas concentration over some 800,000 years.

The Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize has been awarded since 1920 to scientists based in Switzerland whose work has had a beneficial impact upon society. Ten prizewinners have subsequently been awarded the Nobel PrizeExternal link.  

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