Terry L. Root primarily works on how wild animals and plants are changing with climate change, with a current focus on the possible mass extinction of species with warming. She actively works at making scientific information accessible to decision makers and the public. For example, she was a Lead Author for the Third (2001) and Fourth (2007) Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change and a Review Editor for the Fifth (2014) Assessment Report. In 2007 the IPCC was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Al Gore. In addition to other honors, Root was awarded the Spirit of Defenders Award for Science by the Defenders of Wildlife in 2010; in 1999 she was chosen as an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow; in 1992 as a Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment; and in 1990 as a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. She served on the National Audubon Society Board of Directors from 2010 to 2016, and as Assistant Secretary from 2016 to present. Root is also Science Adviser to the American Wind and Wildlife Institute, Boreal Birds Foundation, Point Blue, to name a few.