Abstract: Zachary Labe is a Climate Scientist at Climate Central, where he explores the intersection of climate risk, future climate change scenarios, extreme weather events, early warning predictions, and data science tools. Beyond his research, he is passionate about improving science communication, accessibility, and outreach using storytelling and engaging data visualizations. He holds a B.Sc. in Atmospheric Science from Cornell University (class of 2015) and a Ph.D. in Earth System Science from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining Climate Central, he was a Research Physical Scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. He was selected as a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and his science communication work is featured in dozens of local to international media outlets each year.

Bio: Zachary Labe is a Climate Scientist at Climate Central. His research interests explore the intersection of climate risk, climate impacts, future scenarios, extreme events, early warning predictions, and data science methods like AI/ML. In addition to this work, he is very passionate about improving science communication through accessible data visualizations.

Prior to his time at Climate Central, he was a Research Physical Scientist (federal) at NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D. in 2020 from the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine, where he explored the links between Arctic climate change – particularly sea ice loss – and its influence on the large-scale atmospheric circulation and extreme weather.

This event is presented as part of the 2026 Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge Seminar Series:

• Most Mondays, Spring Semester 2026, 2:55-4:10 p.m.
• 155 Olin Hall & Zoom

This university-wide seminar series is open to the public (via Zoom), and provides important views on the critical issue of climate change, drawing from many perspectives and disciplines. Experts from Cornell University and beyond present an overview of the science of climate change and climate change models, the implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and food systems, and provide important economic, ethical, and policy insights on the issue. The seminar is being organized and sponsored by the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.