PROFILE AND STATEMENT OF
GEOFFREY SUPRAN, PH.D.
Preliminary Matters
My name is Dr. Geoffrey Supran. I am a Post Doctoral Fellow working with
Professor Naomi Oreskes in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard
University (Oreskes is a world-renowned historian of science who identified the
scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. She is also a foremost
authority on the fossil fuel industry’s climate denial, chronicled in her and Erik
Conway’s book and film, The Merchants of Doubt). I am also a Post Doctoral
Affiliate working with Professor Jessika Trancik at the Institute for Data, Systems
and Society at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
I received my PhD in Materials Science & Engineering at MIT. I also earned
the MIT Graduate Certificate in Science, Technology and Policy. I grew up on the
south coast of England, and as an undergraduate, obtained a First Class Honours
degree in Natural Sciences (physics) from Trinity College, University of
Cambridge.
My expertise and research background are twofold: the engineering and
modeling of clean energy technologies; and the history of climate science
disinformation by the fossil fuel industry.
I was invited by Ms. Desiree Llanos Dee, Climate Justice Campaigner of
Greenpeace Southeast Asia (Philippines), one of the petitioners in the human rights
and climate change case, to be a witness and resource person for the petitioners on
August 29-30 public hearings by presenting the findings of a paper I co-authored
with Harvard University Professor Naomi Oreskes. The title of the paper is
“Assessing ExxonMobil's climate change communications (1977–2014),” and it
was published in Environmental Research Letters on 23 August 2017.
I agreed to be a witness and resource person for the petitioners and answer in
writing questions posed to me. On 03 July 2018, Attorney Hasminah Paudac, one
of the legal representatives for the petitioners, spoke with me on Skype regarding
the process of Statement-taking. Attorney Kristin Casper, Greenpeace Canada’s
litigation counsel and international legal coordinator, also participated in that
call. On 04 July 2018, the legal representatives for the petitioners, Attorney
Hasminah Paudac and Attorney Grizelda Mayo-Anda, through their legal liaison,
Ms. Anna Dominique Esmeralda, sent me questions, which I personally answered.
I submit this Profile and Statement, along with my Curriculum Vitae and
PowerPoint presentation, to the Commission on Human Rights. I commit to
elaborate on and clarify this Statement during the scheduled public hearing.