Naomi Oreskes is Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego, and an internationally renowned historian of science.  Her research focuses on the historical development of scientific knowledge, methods, and practices in the earth and environmental sciences, and on understanding scientific consensus and dissent. Her essay “Beyond the Ivory Tower” was a milestone in the fight against global warming denial. Her most recent work, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming (Bloomsbury, 2010), co-authored with historian Erik M. Conway, tells the story of how a cadre of influential scientists have clouded public understanding of scientific facts to advance the ideological agenda of free market fundamentalism.

Website: merchantsofdoubt.org