DURHAM, N.C. – The Green Grok, a new blog by Bill Chameides, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at 91, goes online today at www.thegreengrok.com.

Through the blog Chameides, an atmospheric scientist and member of the National Academy of Sciences, examines the key environmental issues of our time, elucidating causes and potential remedies for environmental change and identifying pathways for a more sustainable future.

 “The science of environmental change is complex. The goal of The Green Grok is to explain it in ways that everyone can understand and relate to, without oversimplification,” says Chameides, who has been guest blogging recently on popular online sites such as Gristmill and Sustainablog. “Blogs are the perfect platform for fostering this type of real-world discussion, because they take it out of the classroom and lab and bring it into people’s homes and workplaces.”

The term “grok” was first coined by novelist Robert Heinlein in his 1961 science fiction classic,Stranger in a Strange Land.  To grok means to understand and communicate a topic so thoroughly and intuitively that it becomes part of who you are.

In his first post, “The Fundamentals of a Fundamentalist,” Chameides proudly confesses to being a “climate change fundamentalist,” a moniker coined recently by the editors of The Wall Street Journalto deride scientists and policy experts who acknowledge the serious threat of climate change. Chameides cites Merriam-Webster’s definition of fundamentalism as “a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles,” and says that for scientists, this kind of fundamentalism is the only tenable position.

Future posts will examine a wide array of timely issues – many inspired by the day’s headlines – that could range from corporate sustainability and consumer “greenwashing,” to the pros and cons of geologic sequestration or biofuels. Chameides hopes to post two to four blogs a week. Leading scientists and policy experts will be invited to participate as guest bloggers.

“The Green Grok” will be housed on a newly designed interactive Web site, “The Nicholas Insider,” which serves as the home for all Nicholas School multimedia projects, including student blogs, field trip blogs, alumni videos, and the “Nicholas Talks” series of recorded lectures and talks.

Erica Rowell, online managing editor for the Nicholas School, serves as editor of “the Green Grok.”  Rowell has more than 15 years of combined experience writing for news outlets and Web sites. She has focused on environmental science since 2003, and spearheaded Environmental Defense’s guide to energy-saving lights, , creating what Smithsonian magazine called "the best CFL guide on the Net."

Research associate Wendy Graber, who holds a Masters in Geology from Duke, is lead researcher for the blog. Prior to joining the Nicholas School this year, Graber worked for 15 years as an environmental consultant, applying science to solve real-world problems.

Stephanie Thirolle, Web developer for the Nicholas School and Nicholas Institute, serves as the Green Grok’s lead technician.

Chameides combines more than 30 years in academia as a professor, researcher, teacher, and mentor with a three-year stint as chief scientist at Environmental Defense. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and a recipient of the American Geophysical Union's MacElwane Award.  He has served on numerous national and international committees and task forces and, in recognition of his “extraordinary service,” was named a National Associate of the National Academies. He has been the dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at 91 since 2007.