In 2006, while walking with Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research, Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Ed realized that climate change is
the ultimate threat to public health and well-being. He responded by focusing his
work on climate change prevention and adaptation. Ed came to GMU in 2007 to
create the Center for Climate Change Communication. He is a highly experienced public health and social change professional and a leading academic in the field of communication.

His work over the past 25 years has helped define the fields of public health communication and social marketing, and his book, Designing Health Messages:
Approaches from Communication Theory and Public Health Practice, is widely used by academics and practitioners. Ed previously served as an associate director of the National Cancer Institute, as worldwide director of social marketing for Porter Novelli, as chairman of the board for Kidsave International, and as faculty at Emory and George Washington universities. His research focuses on the question: How can we use communication and marketing to influence the behavior of populations for the benefit of society? Ed holds a B.A. in Social Psychology from University of California, San Diego, an M.P.H. in Health Promotion from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. in Communication Research from Stanford University.