Mark Essig
Phone: +1 828.271.4475 Email: messig@ncsu.edu
Biography
Dr. Mark Essig joined NCICS in 2022 as a Scientific Technical Editor with the Assessments team. He currently serves as an editor for The Nature Record and the 2025 State Climate Summaries, and he played a key role in editing and content development for the Fifth National Climate Assessment. He also serves as science writer and editor for the Institute, supporting internal and external communications efforts.
Dr. Essig previously worked as a writer and editor for NOAA NCEI, Spatial Informatics Group, World Agroforestry, and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. A former newspaper editor, he has written two books of his own—Lesser Beasts (Basic Books, 2015) and Edison & the Electric Chair (Walker & Co., 2003)—and collaborated on book projects and technical reports with research scientists, medical doctors, business professors, and video-game designers. He holds a PhD in history from Cornell and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Virginia.
Publications
Grade, A.M., A.R. Crimmins, S. Basile, M.R. Essig, L. Goldsmith, A.R. Lustig, T.K. Maycock, A. McCarrick, and A. Scheetz, 2023: Appendix 5. Glossary. In: Fifth National Climate Assessment. Crimmins, A.R., C.W. Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, B.C. Stewart, and T.K. Maycock, Eds. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA. https://doi.org/10.7930/NCA5.2023.A5