In a year when good news seems elusive, Colorado State University atmospheric scientists continue to rack up accolades and earn international acclaim. Seven researchers from the Department of Atmospheric Science have received prestigious honors from their peers and professional organizations in the past several months.
AMS and AGU awards
Three professors were honored by the American Meteorological Society and one by the American Geophysical Union – the field’s two most prominent professional organizations. From the AMS, Russ Schumacher will receive the Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award. Susan van den Heever will be inducted as an AMS Fellow, and James Hurrell will be the first recipient of the Warren Washington Research and Leadership Medal. The trio will be honored at the 101st AMS Annual Meeting in January. Their nominations were led or co-led by atmospheric science colleagues from other universities.
Hurrell, the Scott Presidential Chair in Environmental Science and Engineering, will receive the inaugural Warren Washington Research and Leadership Medal for his “highly influential climate system research, and a distinguished and impactful record of national and international leadership,” according to the AMS citation. van den Heever, a Monfort professor, has been elected a fellow for her extensive record of contributions to atmospheric science. No more than two-tenths of one percent of all AMS members are considered for the honor any given year. Associate professor and Colorado State Climatologist Schumacher will receive the Meisinger Award for his innovative analyses of observations and model simulations that improve our understanding of flash floods and other weather phenomena.
The atmospheric sciences section of the AGU has awarded Associate Professor Elizabeth Barnes the Future Horizons in Climate Science: Turco Lectureship for her climate science research and advances. The Turco Lecture is intended to identify future areas of research for solving the problem of global warming and related issues. Barnes will present the lecture during the AGU Fall Meeting in December, where she looks forward to sharing her recent research focus on machine learning.
Scientist to Watch
Associate Professor Emily Fischer was selected by Science News as one of 10 scientists to watch – a distinction that recognizes early- and mid-career scientists age 40 and under who are significantly contributing to their fields. She was featured in the Oct. 10 issue of Science News and on its website.
Fischer was honored in part for her wildfire smoke research. She was nominated by a past SN 10 recipient, who lauded her work in the areas of air quality and diversity.
INSA Foreign Fellow
University Distinguished Professor A.R. Ravishankara, a member of the Departments of Atmospheric Science and Chemistry, has been named a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), effective Jan. 1, 2021.
Spanning 40 years, Ravishankara’s research has focused on the chemistry of the Earth’s atmosphere related to stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change and regional air quality. Through his recent research specific to India, Ravishankara has been able to identify the effect of pollution on the community’s health in India – where it comes from, how it is harming India and how it can be reduced. He has brought these findings to the scientific community as well as to the public.
The INSA promotes science in India, harnessing scientific knowledge for the cause of humanity and national welfare. The INSA is comprised of scientists from all branches of science and technology. Currently, there are a total of 930 fellows and 94 foreign fellows.
Highly Cited Researcher
Senior Research Scientist Paul DeMott was listed among Clarivate Web of Science’s Highly Cited Researchers, for the second year in a row.
Using Web of Science citation data, experts from the Institute for Scientific Information identify influential researchers who rank in the top 1 percent of citations for field and year. Out of nearly 8 million researchers in the world over the past decade, less than 1 percent qualify for the distinction by publishing multiple papers frequently cited by their peers.
DeMott was one of only three scientists from CSU to be named to the list this year. The others were William Parton and Matthew Wallenstein.
DeMott, a researcher in University Distinguished Professor Sonia Kreidenweis’ research group, studies aerosol-cloud interactions, particularly ice phase transitions of atmospheric particles. His work is important to the fundamental issue of how aerosols affect climate indirectly by impacting the radiative properties of clouds, latent heating of the atmosphere and precipitation.
Kreidenweis called DeMott’s naming to the list “well-deserved recognition of [his] impact on our science.”
