Edouard Bard

Edouard Bard (born September 1, 1962) is a distinguished French climatologist currently serving as Professor of Climate and Ocean Evolution at the Collège de France. He is also a member of the French Academy of Sciences and deputy director of the European Centre for Research and Education in Environmental Geosciences (CEREGE) at the Arbois Technopole in Aix-en-Provence. His academic journey began with geological engineering studies at ENSG in Nancy, followed by doctoral research at the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA) in Gif-sur-Yvette (1987), and postdoctoral work at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (1988-1989).

Bard's research spans climatology, oceanography, and geology with a focus on understanding the natural functioning of the ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere-biosphere system across timescales from centuries to millions of years. His work integrates analytical chemistry techniques to reconstruct past environments from marine and lake sediments, corals, stalagmites, and polar ice. He has pioneered methods using mass spectrometry to measure radioactive isotopes for dating climate variations recorded in geological archives.

Bard's publication record shows consistent contributions across paleoclimatology, with particular emphasis on radiocarbon dating calibration, sea level reconstruction, and climate-ocean interactions. His recent work (2010-2013) focuses on ice sheet dynamics, meltwater pulses, and cosmogenic nuclide applications, while maintaining his foundational work in radiocarbon methodology. His research demonstrates a clear trajectory from methodological development to application in major climate questions.

His scientific achievements have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards:

• Macelwane Medal of the American Geophysical Union (1997)
• Wegener Medal of the European Geosciences Union (2013)
• Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (2014)
• Multiple recognitions as a Highly Cited Researcher

Beyond research, Bard has significantly contributed to public understanding of climate science through popular books like 'L'Homme et le climat' (2005) and 'L'Océan, le climat et nous' (2011). He organized numerous Collège de France symposia on climate change, served as scientific curator for major exhibitions, and participated in high-level policy discussions including the Grenelle de l'Environnement and UN Climate Change Conferences. As deputy director of CEREGE and coordinator of the EQUIPEX ASTER-CEREGE project, he leads significant research infrastructure in environmental geosciences.