Weathering Crisis: Revisiting James Madison’s Contributions to Climate and Citizen Science

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Join the American Philosophical Society for a conversation with acclaimed geophysicist and current National Academy of Sciences President, Marcia McNutt. Reflecting on her own experiences and research within the geophysical and Earth sciences, as well as her role as a scientific leader, adviser, and popularizer, McNutt will discuss the 18th-century meteorological records kept by James Madison and their implications for contemporary approaches to climate and citizen science. From the observations of weather conditions and crop cycles taken at his Montpelier plantation to his support of Thomas Jefferson's efforts to track and document the damage caused by the wheat-destroying Hessian fly, Madison left careful records that speak to the potential and limits of collective scientific work. This program will consider the opportunities and challenges of so-called “citizen science”–both in the 18th century and today–and will offer some strategies for how to mobilize scientific networks in times of crisis.

This conversation is part of “America’s Scientific Revolutionaries," a two-year initiative funded by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation highlighting the work of lesser-known scientists and physicians active during the Revolutionary era. 

This event will be held onsite at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as well as livestreamed. This event is free and open to the public. Please register to attend. Seating is limited. Please note that the event times reflect Eastern Time.

Dr. Marcia McNutt (B.A. in physics, Colorado College; Ph.D. in Earth sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography) is a geophysicist and the 22nd president of the National Academy of Sciences. From 2013 to 2016, she was editor-in-chief of Science journals. McNutt was director of the U.S. Geological Survey from 2009 to 2013, during which time USGS responded to a number of major disasters, including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. For her work to help contain that spill, McNutt was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard’s Meritorious Service Medal. She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Association of Geodesy. McNutt is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, UK, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. In 1998, McNutt was awarded the AGU’s Macelwane Medal for research accomplishments by a young scientist, and she received the Maurice Ewing Medal in 2007 for her contributions to deep-sea exploration.