Dr. Lewis Ziska

Dr. Lewis Ziska

Plant Physiologist | Agricultural Research Service

    Dr. Lewis Ziska is a plant physiologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland. After graduating from the University of California, Davis, he began his career as a Smithsonian fellow and then took up residence as the Project Leader for global climate change at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines before joining USDA. Since joining USDA, Dr. Ziska has published more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles related to climate change and rising carbon dioxide that address: Agriculture and Food Security; weeds and weed management; invasive species and plant biology and public health.

    Dr. Ziska is a contributor to the 2014 International Panel on Climate Change report (Food Security Chapter); the 2014 National Climate Assessment (Public Health Chapter) and, most recently, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. His work has appeared in Scientific American, USA Today, CBS Nightly News, CBS’ Sunday Morning, National Geographic, NPR, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.  He is the author of “Weed Biology and Climate Change” (with Jeff Dukes, Wiley Press) and the editor of “Invasive Species and Global Climate Change” (with Jeff Dukes, CABi Press). His most recent book: “Agriculture, Climate Change and Food Security in the 21st Century: Our Daily Bread” is available through Cambridge Scholars publishing.