J Marshall Shepherd

Early life and education

Shepherd grew up in Canton, Georgia, where he first became interested in meteorology in the sixth grade. He had planned to do a science project about bees, but decided to do it about the weather instead after he discovered he was allergic to bees. He received his bachelor's (in 1991), master's (in 1993), and Ph.D. (in 1999) degrees in physical meteorology from Florida State University (FSU), and was the first African-American person to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology from the university. He became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Iota Delta chapter at Florida State in 1988.

Scientific career

Shepherd initially worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a research meteorologist for twelve years. He then joined the University of Georgia's department of geography in 2006. He served on the NOAA Science Advisory Board. In recognition of his work in climate science and global climate awareness, he was the 2014 recipient of the Captain Planet award by Ted Turner’s Captain Planet Foundation. Shepherd is a contributor to both Forbes and Weather Underground.

Views

Shepherd has written that African Americans may be more vulnerable to the effects of global warming, such as heat-related deaths. He has also spoken out about the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, and has argued that it significantly delayed research into the use of global climate models in the United States, and that it also prevented members of the National Weather Service (NWS) from attending the National Weather Association (NWA)'s annual conference.

Television appearances

Shepherd has appeared on the Today Show and Larry King Live, and, since July 2014, has hosted "Weather Geeks", a talk show airing on the Weather Channel. He also appeared on Face the Nation in 2014.

Awards

President George W. Bush honored Shepherd with a Presidential Early Career Award in 2004. He also received a Media Achievement Award from the Association of American Geographers in 2014.