Daniel P. Schrag

Daniel Paul Schrag (born January 25, 1966) is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

He also co-directs the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard University Harvard Kennedy School.

He is also an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute.

He has also worked on a variety of clean energy projects incorporating carbon capture and storage to reduce emissions from power plants, fuel refineries and fertilizer plants.

With John Marshall, he co-founded The Potential Energy Coalition, an environmental NGO aimed at deploying more effective communication strategies around climate change.

With Eric Love, he co-founded The Carbon Endowment, an environmental NGO aimed at acquiring underground coal reserves and conserving them in perpetuity.

He has served on the advisory boards of a variety of clean energy companies including Kobold Metals, a company trying to accelerate the discovery of critical metals for lithium ion batteries.

In 2023, an investigative report in the Harvard Crimson revealed that Schrag has faced allegations of bullying and creation of toxic workplace environments going back several decades, although the report only cited specific comments from the past three years.

Twelve former students who worked with Schrag wrote a letter to the Crimson, following the initial publication, stating that their experiences with Schrag were extremely positive and contradicted the findings of these reporters.

Moreover, they stated that "Many of us felt, when we were contacted by The Crimson, that the reporters were searching [not for truth but rather] for dirt".

Schrag received his B.S. in geology & geophysics and political science from Yale University in 1988.

He received his Ph.D. in geology from University of California, Berkeley in 1993 under the supervision of Donald J. DePaolo, co-advised by Frank Richter from the University of Chicago.

Much of his early research focused on reconstructing past climate change, including work on a deep sea sediments from the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic; theories for Pleistocene ice-age cycles, including a new way of reconstructing deep ocean temperature and salinity using pore fluids; and reconstructing tropical climate variability from geochemical variations in corals and trees.

His work on radiocarbon in corals with Tom Guilderson led to an interest in the oceanography of the tropical Pacific, including recent work on possible mechanisms for decadal variability.

He has also worked on more ancient times in Earth history, collaborating with his colleague Paul F. Hoffman on developing and extending the Snowball Earth hypothesis, as well as work on developing a mechanistic understanding for how atmospheric oxygen has evolved through Earth history.

His interest in modern and future climate change led to a focus on technological approaches to mitigating future climate change, including work on carbon capture and storage (CCS), low-carbon options for transportation fuels, and a wide variety of other issues in energy technology and policy including direct air capture of carbon dioxide.