The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks has awarded the 2023 George Hartzog Award to Dr. Patrick Gonzalez, climate change scientist, forest ecologist, and Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity. The Coalition cites his science and action to protect national parks from human-caused climate change and his strong stand for scientific integrity.
The Coalition is a non-profit organization of former employees and volunteers of the U.S. National Park Service that supports science-based policies for national parks. It awards the George Hartzog Award annually to an individual who demonstrates outstanding support for the mission of the National Park Service. Patrick Gonzalez worked 11 years for the agency, serving as National Park Service Principal Climate Change Scientist.
George B. Hartzog, Jr. (1920-2008), served as the seventh Director of the National Park Service, greatly expanding the National Park System and extending its service to many more Americans and people around the world.
Patrick Gonzalez, Yosemite National Park. Photo by Al Golub.
George G. Hartzog, Jr. Award