DLA Outstanding Science Communicator Award

Dan Albritton
Dr. Daniel L. Albritton in 2001. Photo: C. Burgdorf, NOAA / CIRES

This award is named in honor of Dr. Daniel L. Albritton, a retired OAR scientist who proved to be one of the most effective communicators of NOAA research and related science. His career exemplifies a scientist serving national and international needs and using science for the benefit of mankind. When he retired in 2006 as the acting-director of the newly formed Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, and our first Director of NOAA ESRL CSD, Dr. Albritton spent nearly 40 years as a scientist, administrator, and public servant.

Throughout his career, he was a major spokesman in explaining the science of climate change to the public and government policy makers. As head of the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory (now the Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL), part of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratories) from 1986 until his retirement in 2006, he was a leader in organizing research on stratospheric ozone destruction and led the scientific assessments that helped develop international protocols for control of ozone-destroying chemicals. He played a key role in understanding and communicating the causes of pollution in the lower atmosphere, including the chemistry of acid rain and urban smog. His extraordinary outreach and education efforts with high-level policy makers contributed significantly to passage of the Montreal Protocol and the Clean Air Act.

Dr. Daniel L. Albritton reacts to having an award named in his honor, and discusses effective science communication. Video: NOAA CSL

NOAA OAR presents one award annually, to recognize an individual or group for extraordinary efforts in communicating the meaning and value of NOAA-related science and research to non-scientific audiences. Guidance for nominations is included with the OAR Awards information (UMS authentication required).

Recipients

AOML's Ian Enochs receives the 2023 Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for outstanding leadership and communication of NOAA's coral reef research and its relevance to the American public during the 2023 bleaching event.

Libby Jewett, Director of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP), receives a 2022 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for founding and leading a NOAA program that has dramatically boosted U.S. and global understanding of ocean acidification through expert science communication and broad public engagement.

CSL's Amy Butler receives a 2021 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award for outstanding communication of NOAA research regarding the impact of variations in the stratospheric polar vortex on weather at the Earth's surface.

PSL's Sarah Morris receives a 2021 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award for effectively telling the story of NOAA Arctic science through the individual faces and voices of NOAA and Cooperative Institute teams.

WPO's Gina Eosco receives the 2020 Outstanding Science Communicator Award. Dr. Eosco is a social scientist and risk communication expert supporting NOAA's Weather Program Office.

GFDL's Thomas R. Knutson receives a 2019 Outstanding Science Communicator Award. Dr. Knutson is a preeminent expert in climate change and hurricanes and has greatly increased scientific understanding in these areas. His communication of research results has connected to a broad audience. He finds time for assessment activities across the globe while participating in more media interviews than any other scientist at GFDL.

ESRL GMD's Stephen Montzka receives a 2019 Outstanding Science Communicator Award. Dr. Montzka has spent decades engaged in atmospheric monitoring and in communicating about his research. His work includes discovery of rising emissions of the Montreal Protocol banned ozone-depleting gas CFC-11. As the project leader of the Chlorofluorocarbons Alternatives Monitoring Project at ESRL, he is responsible for ongoing global atmospheric measurements of around 40 chemicals at 35 remote sites across the globe.

AOML's Frank Marks receives the 2018 Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for his outstanding communication of NOAA research and its relevance to the American public. Frank's tireless work to advance the state of tropical cyclone knowledge has fostered improvements in ground-based, airborne, and spaceborne radar technology, data analysis, and numerical modeling. His role as co-chair of the NOAA Hurricane Irene Service Assessment team has contributed to increased interaction between stakeholders and the storm-affected public, as well as, the development of recommendations for NOAA and NWS to improve communications of the risks to our customers.

GFDL's Sarah Kapnick receives a 2017 Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for outstanding communication of NOAA research and its relevance to the American public. Sarah has demonstrated exceptional skill in effectively communicating her scientific research on weather and climate prediction to a broad and diverse general public audience. The combination of her diligent preparation for, coordination of, and communicating through media interviews has resulted in significant improvement in public understanding of climate science.

PMEL's James Overland receives a 2017 Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for communicating the significance and limitations of scientific findings to policy makers within NOAA and around the world, the public, fisheries managers, environmental agencies, and biologists and other scientists not in his discipline. From the beginning of his career, he has set a priority of what and how to communicate. He has embraced the PMEL standard of communicating information backed by peer review journal articles, with Dr. Albritton as a role model.

ESRL PSD's Marty Hoerling receives the 2016 Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for an exceptional ability to explain science in a way that the public understands. He is one of OAR's best scientists when the press calls.

CPO's David D. Herring receives the 2015 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for his outstanding leadership, vision and communication skills in developing and delivering the Climate Resilience Toolkit, a key deliverable of the President's Climate Action Plan. The Toolkit, which was rolled out in White House events in late 2014 and 2015, uses plain language and easy-to-use but state of-the-art tools to illustrate and communicate climate-related vulnerabilities that communities and businesses face.

GFDL's Gabriel A. Vecchi receives the 2014 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for his focus on scientific research, building predictive understanding of climate and its impacts, such as hurricanes on timescales of weeks to centuries. Gabriel also has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring OAR science to audiences across a broad range of sectors, from educators to local citizens, children to senior business executives, and policy makers to media outlets.

GLERL's Margaret Lansing receives the 2013 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award for communicating the meaning and value of NOAA-related science and research to non-scientific audiences.

NSSL's Dr. Harold E. Brooks receives the 2012 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for all his work to make science accessible, especially during countless media interviews surrounding severe weather outbreaks.

ESRL GMD's Dr. Russell C. Schnell receives the 2011 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award, for his creativity, enthusiasm, and ability to simplify complex environmental issues fosters understanding and inspires both scientists and future scientists around the globe.

ARL's Dr. Dian J. Seidel receives the 2010 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award.

ESRL CSD's Dr. David W. Fahey receives the 2009 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award.

GFDL's Dr. Keith W. Dixon receives the 2008 Dan Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award, the award's inaugural year.