An atmospheric scientist and climate change evangelist who is also a conservative Christian will speak at 6 p.m. Monday (April 18) in the Matador Room of Texas Tech's Student Union Building. Hosted by Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Agricultural Awareness Week, admission to the presentation by Katharine Hayhoe, which will focus on four simple steps to tackling tough conversations in science and beyond, is free and open to the public.

Hayhoe, who directs Tech's Climate Science Center, focuses her research on developing and applying high-resolution climate projections to evaluate the future impacts of climate change on society and the environment. She's also a science adviser to Showtime's Emmy award-winning documentary series "The Years of Living Dangerously," which featured her work in the first episode.

In 2012, Christianity Today named her one of its "50 Women to Watch." In 2014, Time magazine named Hayhoe one of the 100 most influential people of the year. Writing about Hayhoe for the Time article, actor Don Cheadle (who worked with her on the documentary series) said, "As a climate change evangelist, Katharine believes her religious faith obligates her to spread the word about climate change."

Hayhoe, who also serves an associate professor in the Public Administration program at Tech, has published more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and served as lead author on key reports for the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Academy of Sciences, including the Second and Third U.S. National Climate Assessments. With her husband Andrew Farley, a professor of applied linguistics and a pastor, she wrote "A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions."

In addition, she's a scientific adviser to Citizen's Climate Lobby, EcoAmerica, the Energy and Enterprise Initiative and the Evangelical Environmental Network. Her work has also been featured on the PBS documentary "The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers." Hayhoe received her master's and doctoral degrees in atmospheric sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In the past Hayhoe has noted that climate change has become one of the most polarizing issues in the U.S., but she has pointed out that arguing about it won't help: Social science studies show arguing about something actually entrenches people's positions. People today listen to and read whatever media agree with the opinions they already hold, she said.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Michael Galyean, Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or michael.galyean@ttu.edu

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