David Legates
Role: Contributor
Position: Retired Professor, University of Delaware
Background:
David Legates is a climatologist who served as a professor at the University of Delaware in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. He earned his B.A. in Mathematics and Geography, M.S. in Geography-Climatology, and Ph.D. in Climatology, all from the University of Delaware. Legates has held several academic positions throughout his career, including roles at the University of Oklahoma and Louisiana State University. He also served as the Delaware State Climatologist and directed the Center for Climatic Research at the University of Delaware. Legates is known for his work in hydroclimatology, spatial analysis, and climate change research, with over $7 million in research grants and more than 80 published papers.
Relation to Trump:
Legates was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Observation and Prediction at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) during the Trump administration in 2020. His appointment was controversial due to his skeptical views on human-caused climate change, which aligned with the administration’s approach to climate science. He later worked in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he was involved in the creation of climate change briefing documents that sparked significant criticism.
Scandals or Controversies:
David Legates has been a controversial figure in the climate science community, largely due to his rejection of the mainstream scientific consensus on climate change. His research has been funded by organizations such as Koch Industries and ExxonMobil, leading to further scrutiny and debate. In his role at NOAA under the Trump administration, he faced backlash for distributing documents that challenged widely accepted climate science under the guise of official White House publications, which led to his termination from the White House position.