Born in Zürich, Stocker obtained a degree in physics at the ETH Zurich.

Since 1993, he has been a professor and head of the department of Climate and Environmental Physics at the University of Bern.

[2] The focus of Stocker's research is the development of models of climate change based on, among other, the analysis of ice cores from the polar regions.

He significantly contributed to creating the "hockey stick graph" that shows a growing increase of global mean temperatures in recent times.

[6] Stocker is featured in the film Taking Earth's Temperature: Delving into Climate's Past.