Naomi Oreskes, whose acclaimed book Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco to Global Warming (co-authored with Erik M. Conway) won the 2011 Watson-David Prize from the History of Science Society, has moved to Harvard University after spending fifteen years at the University of California, San Diego.

Professor Oreskes's research focuses on the development of scientific consensus, especially during the Cold War. She is frequently cited as an expert by the media on issues related to climate change dissenters.