About Michael

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University studying how interactions between clouds and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols influence Earth’s climate.

My group studies clouds in the hope of gaining a better understanding of Earth’s physical climate system (and the climate systems of other planets) through observations, modeling, and theory.  I am also very interested in how climate science can and should be used to inform policy, and in science policy (both science for policy and policy for science) more broadly.

I believe strongly in the importance of sharing my science with the broader public. Over the past few years, I collaborated closely with teachers at Sammamish High School in Bellevue, Washington, to develop a “problem-based learning” module that teaches the basics of climate and planetary energy balance through an overarching project that has students evaluate different geoengineering proposals from scientific, technological, and socio-economic perspectives. As a member of the UAW Local 4121 academic student employees union at the University of Washington, Seattle, I was active in communicating the science of climate change and how that ties into different policy responses to labor communities throughout Washington State. I also provided written testimony to the Washington State Legislature in favor of a bill strengthening state carbon mitigation targets on behalf of the UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate. My other outreach activities have ranged from climate science pub-trivia, to developing lessons about the possible climates of exoplanets for middle and high school students, to discussing climate change and life as a scientist at Shabbat dinners. I am always looking for new opportunities to share the latest science with different audiences.

Outside work, I enjoy photography, hiking, reading (often about history), travel, and hanging out with my wife and our puppy.

Disclaimer: Any views expressed on this website, on social media, and in public talks are my own and not representative of my employers past, present, future, in nearby multiverses, etc.

Please contact me at msdiamond (at) fsu (dot) edu if you would like to get in touch!