William R. L. Anderegg

William R. L. Anderegg is an American scientist and researcher, who has contributed to the fields of climate change and ecology. His research examines the impacts of climate change on Earth’s forests, and includes studies on the scientific consensus on climate change, the physiology of tree and forest drought responses, climate change impacts on pollen seasons, and climate risks to forests and nature-based climate solutions. Anderegg is a professor of biology and former director of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy at the University of Utah. He won the National Science Foundation's Alan T. Waterman Award in 2023.

Early life and education Anderegg was born and grew up in Colorado. He received a B.A. and completed a Ph.D. in biology at Stanford University. His dissertation work examined the physiology of how trees die from drought and climate stress through damage to the water transport system and the scientific consensus around climate change. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University. examine how climate change affects pollen seasons in North America, and quantify climate risks like wildfires to human communities and to forests.

Awards Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2025) NSF’s Alan T. Waterman Award (2023) Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (2018-2022) Tansley Medal from the New Phytologist Trust (2014)

Selected publications