Ben Franta Awarded Outstanding Student Presentation at The American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting

The American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world, with the December, 2019 meeting in San Francisco attracting 25,000 attendees. During the week, Stanford History PhD and JD student Benjamin Franta spoke as a panelist in a discussion on "Research and Advocacy in a Green New Deal World" and gave two oral presentations on his research, entitled "Countering Fossil Fuel Industry Disinformation and Policy Delay" and "Facilitating the Green New Deal Through History and Law." His final presentation was recognized with an Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA), which are selected by anonymous judges and awarded to the top 5% of presentations at the meeting. One judge noted, "Your topic is critical, your presentation was engaging, your argument was convincing," while another called the presentation "clear and compelling." Benjamin called the award "an honor and a wonderful surprise." He works with Professor Robert Proctor on the histories of climate science, the political obstruction of climate action, and the fossil fuel industry and advises legal efforts to hold fossil fuel producers accountable for the climate impacts of their products.