Peter Sinclair (environmental activist)

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Peter Sinclair
Born
Alma materB.F.A. at University of Michigan
Occupation(s)Blogger, Videographer, Explorer

Peter Sinclair from Midland, Michigan (born 1953), is an environmental activist whose focus is on climate change. He is a YouTube blogger, explorer and founder of the ClimateCrocks.com website. Together with climate researchers he's traveled to hot spots of climate change, for instance to Greenland as part of the Dark Snow Project.[1][2] Sinclair is perhaps best known for producing the Climate Denial Crock of the Week series on his YouTube channel. Videos have received praise from climate scientists such as Gavin Schmidt, Michael E. Mann, and the late Stephen Schneider.[3] In 2012, he launched another YouTube series, entitled This is not Cool, for the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

Life and work[edit]

Sinclair is the son of Mary P. Sinclair, He lives in Midland with his wife, Sandy, a teacher, and has stated that his concern about global warming results from concerns about the future of his children. He graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.[4] In the 90's he worked as a graphic artist, is the author of Alex's Restaurant, which was picked up by King Features Syndicate in 1990, after which it appeared in about 50 newspapers.[5]

Sinclair has given a number of public speeches on climate change, such as one on January 23, 2013 at Michigan State University entitled The Ultimate Injustice.[6] Sinclair gave another talk at the Ross School of Business on September 11, 2013, co-sponsored by the Erb Institute. The talk was entitled Communicating Climate Science in the Disinformation Era.[7]

Interviews[edit]

For his videos, Sinclair regularly interviews climate scientists. He has also interviewed Marc Morano at the 2012 International Conference on Climate Change. Later that year, his video Welcome to the Rest of Our Lives was featured in Mother Jones.[8] In January 2014, he posted an interview with Jeff Masters of Weather Underground addressing arguments about cold temperatures disproving global warming,[9] which was covered by the National Journal.[10]

Expeditions[edit]

In 2012, he successfully crowd-funded via a Kickstarter campaign for an expedition with the climate researchers Jason Box and Maurio Pelto, to assess the state of glaciers around Mount Baker, an active glaciated stratovolcano.[11][12]

In 2013, he went to Greenland with members of the Dark Snow Project and Bill McKibben, as their videographer, to document Greenland's surface melting.[13]

Awards and grants[edit]

  • Herbert L. Munzel award for environmental activism from the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center (2013).[14]
  • Climate Denial Crock of the Week won a competition for a $5000 grant from BrighterPlanet.com in 2010.[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Greenman3610 (2 July 2012). "Help Send Peter Sinclair to the Mt. Baker Glacier". Skeptical Science. Retrieved 21 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Joe Romm (14 May 2013). "Help Crowdfund The Dark Snow Project Research Trip To Greenland, As McKibben And Sinclair Join Jason Box". ThinkProgress. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  3. ^ Michael Mann: The Hockey Stick and Climate Wars (YouTube video). 7 March 2012.
  4. ^ Miserandino, Dominick (1 September 1999). "Peter Sinclair Interview". Thecelebritycafe.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  5. ^ Guyette, Curt (September–October 1999). "Cartoon Commentarian". Utne Reader. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  6. ^ "MSU Events Calendar - Peter Sinclair on Climate Change: The Ultimate Injustice".
  7. ^ "Details – Communicating Climate Science in the Disinformation Era". Erb Institute. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  8. ^ Sheppard, Kate (10 July 2012). "You Look Out the Window and You See Climate Change in Action". Mother Jones. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  9. ^ If There's Global Warming ... Why Is It So Cold?. 28 January 2014.
  10. ^ Flores, Reena (30 January 2014). "The One Video to Shut Down All of the Climate-Change Deniers". National Journal. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  11. ^ Greenman3610 (2 July 2012). "Help Send Peter Sinclair to the Mt. Baker Glacier". Skeptical Science. Retrieved 21 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Climate Crocks on Ice". 2012.
  13. ^ Roush, Matt (14 May 2013). "Michigan Videographer, Climate Activist To Document Greenland Ice Study". CBS Detroit. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  14. ^ "Peter Sinclair named winner of Herbert L. Munzel Award for Environmental Activism". Ecology Center. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  15. ^ "Climate Denial Crock of the Week won the Brighter Planet Competition". 2010.

External links[edit]