Rate My Professor Naomi Oreskes

Naomi Oreskes is Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Holding a B.Sc. with First Class Honours in Geology from Imperial College London in 1981 and a Ph.D. in Geological Research and History of Science from Stanford University in 1990, she began her career as a geologist at Western Mining Corporation in Australia before pursuing academia. Her professional trajectory includes roles as Visiting and Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences and History at Dartmouth College (1990-1996), Associate Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at New York University (1996-1998), and Professor in the Department of History and Program in Science Studies with adjunct appointment in Geosciences at the University of California, San Diego (1998-2013), where she also served as Provost of Sixth College (2008-2011) and Director of the Program in Science Studies (2003-2006). Since joining Harvard in 2013, she has directed Graduate Studies in the Department of the History of Science (2013-2016) and contributed to university committees including the Faculty Council (2020-2023).

Oreskes specializes in the history and philosophy of earth and environmental sciences, science and technology studies, agnotology, and the political economy of scientific knowledge, with a focus on climate change disinformation. She is author or co-author of eight books, including Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming (2010, with Erik M. Conway), Why Trust Science? (2019), Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t Know about the Ocean (2021), and The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market (2023, with Erik M. Conway). Over 150 articles, essays, and opinion pieces by her have appeared in outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. Her scholarship has profoundly influenced understandings of scientific consensus and disinformation tactics. Honors include the 2025 Volvo Environment Prize, 2024 Nonino Foundation Maestro del Nostro Tempo award, 2019 British Academy Medal, 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship, 2016 Stephen H. Schneider Award for Climate Science Communication, and fellowships from the American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and American Philosophical Society. She serves on committees like the American Geophysical Union History Committee.