Steven Chu

In this Climate Chat episode, we interview former U.S. Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu about the state and future of climate change, why political leaders have not addressed climate change seriously, and what can be done to increase action. Steven Chu is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics, of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and of Energy Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He received an A.B. degree in mathematics and a B.S. degree in physics from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Berkeley, he was at Bell Labs as a member of the technical staff in 1978 and then department head in 1983. From January 2009 to April, 2013, Dr. Chu served as U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Barack Obama. During his tenure, he began several initiatives, including ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy), the Energy Innovation Hubs, and the Clean Energy Ministerial meetings. As the first scientist Cabinet member, Chu recruited dozens outstanding scientists and engineers to the Department of Energy, and was personally tasked by President Obama to help stop the BP Oil leak. From 2004-2009, he was the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Professor of Physics and of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California Berkeley. Prior to those positions, he was the Theodore and Francis Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University. During this time, he helped start Bio-X, a multi-disciplinary initiative combining the physical and biological sciences with engineering and medicine. His contributions include the introduction of laser cooling and optical trapping of atoms and particles, atomic fountain clocks and atom interferometers, the optical tweezers of biomolecules, and single molecule FRET of biomolecules tethered to surfaces. His current research is in biophysics, molecular and cellular physiology, medical imaging, nanoparticle synthesis and battery research. He has received many awards, including the 1997 Nobel Prize for laser cooling and optical trapping of atoms. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Inventors, and a foreign member of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Academia Sinica, the Korean Academy of Sciences and Technology and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He received an A.B. degree in mathematics, and a B.S. degree in physics from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and 35 honorary degrees. Dr. Chu's Stanford page: https://profiles.stanford.edu/steve-chu?tab=bio Please Like and Subscribe! Leon Simons is a climate scientist based in the Netherlands. He was a co-author with James Hansen on the 2023 "Global Warming in the Pipeline" paper that discussed the recent acceleration in global warming. Leon's work has focused recently on changes in aerosol emissions from ships and the impact of those changes on climate change. You can access Leon's research writings here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leon-Simons Follow Leon on X/Twitter: @LeonSimons8 and Bluesky: ‪@leonsimons.bsky.social‬ Follow Leon on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/LeonSimons/home Dan Miller has been giving talks around the world on the need for urgent climate action for over 20 years. He is co-founder of The Roda Group, a climate-tech venture capital group, and he serves as an advisor for other climate funds and climate-focused non-profit groups. He started Climate Chat in 2021 on Clubhouse and added YouTube in 2023. Follow Dan Miller on X/Twitter: @danmiller999 Follow Dan Miller on Bluesky: @danmiller999.bsky.social and @climatechat.bsky.social Follow Stacey Randecker on X/Twitter: @DrivingMzStacey and Bluesky: @biki

Ilham sits down with Nobel prize-winning scientists Professor Steven Chu and Professor Ben Feringa to discuss some of the most exciting innovations in energy, clean mobility, and healthcare; the importance of ensuring that scientific innovation is at the service of humanity; the winner of the 2022 Solvay prize; and how science and chemistry are key to enabling a more sustainable future. Steven Chu is a professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University and the former US Secretary of Energy. In 1997, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for developing methods to cool and trap atoms with laser lights. Ben Feringa is a Professor at the University of Groningen, and the winner of the 2015 Solvay prize. In 2016, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking research on the design and synthesis of molecular machines. They are both part of the jury that chose the winner for the 2022 Solvay prize , Katalin Karikó. For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast