'Your research can have an impact': UTM's Kent Moore reflects on decades of work

For more than 30 years, Kent Moore has travelled to remote corners of the globe in the name of climate research.

From the Arctic to Everest, his study of unforgiving environments has made him an expert in climate change and a key contributor to improvements that have made mountain climbing safer. 

Amid all his career milestones, however, one of his favourite aspects of research is simple: sharing what he’s learned.  

“It's important that academics are in the public sphere,” said Moore, a physics professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga. 

“We need to use our knowledge to not only write papers, which, of course, is important, but to provide context for the greater society.”

Moore was recently awarded the 2024-25 Desmond Morton Research Excellence Award and will be among a trio of researchers celebrated at UTM this week. 

Associate professors Julie Yujie Chen and Alexander Reisenbichler – recipients of UTM annual research prizes – will also be honoured at the inaugural UTM Research Excellence Celebration, taking place March 26.

Moore plans to share more on his work in mountainous regions, including Mount Everest.

“We have some research just coming out which shows that recently the mortality rates (on Everest) have gone down quite dramatically,” said Moore. “We think it has to do with better tech and better weather forecasting.”

Moore and his climbing partner, U of T surgery professor John Semple, have been studying the climate of that area for more than 20 years, first joining forces when Semple sought someone with meteorological experience to help him better understand cold weather threats such as hypothermia and frostbite. 

“We've sort of created a new field of study, looking at the impact that climate change has on human physiology at high altitude,” said Moore. “It wasn't something I thought I would ever do, but that's the beauty of research: You can apply your skills in new areas and contribute to the greater knowledge.”

As part of their research, Moore and Semple looked at a storm on Mount Everest in 1996 in which eight climbers died.

“They were at the high camp, and the winds had been quite strong, but died down,” said Moore. “The consensus then was that once winds die down, you had a couple of days of calm. In this case, that wasn't what happened. They started climbing and the winds picked up, and that contributed to the loss of life.”

Thanks to the meteorological research of Moore and others, climbers now have access to more targeted information.

“Now when they're at base camp, all expeditions receive weather forecasts so they can see bad things coming,” said Moore. 

“They can then plan the best time to ascend, which has created a greater chance of survival ... It's one of those times when you can actually have an impact, your research can have an impact.”

Moore, who has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, was recently named U of T’s Distinguished Professor of Theoretical Geophysics of Climate Change. It’s just the latest in a long string of esteemed positions on his CV, including vice-chair of the atmospheric working group on the International Arctic Science Committee.

Moore came to the climate science field almost by chance. 

“When I finished my undergraduate degree at Princeton University, I realized I liked physics and I liked math, but I didn't really like modern physics,” he said. 

Princeton at the time was pioneering the use of computers to simulate climate patterns. Interest piqued, Moore joined in the research.

“I discovered this field of geophysical fluid dynamics and I just loved it,” he said. “Most physicists study things that they can't see, but I was able to study things that I can actually experience, like weather.”

In 2024, Moore earned the Patterson Distinguished Service Medal to recognize his lifetime contributions to meteorology, much of it in the far north. 

“The most profound changes anywhere on Earth are happening in in the Arctic and there’s renewed interest in understanding its ecosystems,” he said. 

“Because eventually, we're going to be able to put ships into the Arctic and that opens up the geopolitical interest as well.”

And, he said, even after three decades of studying the area, there is much more to learn.

“It's cold, salty, not much light. But these organisms, colonies of algae, grow under the sea ice. They have figured a way to survive and thrive in this area, the way the Inuit were able to adapt,” he said. 

“I think people would be surprised just how dynamic the place is.”