2019 News & Events

Recognition of research achievements and other accomplishments of CSD staff who have received recent awards and honors.

The University of Colorado CIRES Rendezvous on May 17^th recognized several of our colleagues with the 2019 CIRES Outstanding Performance Award. The following details on the CIRES awards are from the 2019 CIRES Rendezvous Program

Caroline Womack received the award in the Science and Engineering category for tackling a series of diverse, complex experimental and scientific challenges during her short time at NOAA. The resulting advances are foundational and will ultimately provide the NOAA / CIRES community with new experimental methods and new ways of thinking about future research. These advances include: 1) A methodology for the measurement of broadband aerosol extinction, a challenging project with potential for the next generation of instruments in this field; 2) An innovative modeling framework for understanding wintertime aerosol pollution that may lead to reconsideration of particulate matter mitigation strategies in polluted regions worldwide; and 3) a careful investigation of current instrumentation for measurements of speciated reactive nitrogen. Her many contributions in a very short period are new and innovative and have potential to alter the direction of their fields.

In the category of Science and Engineering, Eric Ray and Pengfei Yu, along with Global Monitoring Division (GMD) colleagues Geoff Dutton, Lei Hu, Ben Miller, Debra Mondeel, Fred Moore, David Nance, and Carolina Siso, were recognized for providing the analytical and interpretive foundations of a paper that has identfied substantial unreported emissions of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11), a major ozone-depleting substance. Production of CFC-11 has been phased out under the provisions of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer for almost a decade. The finding of unreported emissions represents an unprecedented challenge to the Protocol process, which is supported by all nations. This paper has alarmed the world and inspired scientific research and policy discussions to address the causes and implications of the emissions. The CIRES team ensured that the CFC-11 measurements used in the paper were of the highest analytical quality and that the model-based interpretation that led to the conclusion of unreported emissions considered all processes involving CFC-11 in the atmosphere. Since the release, the United Nations Environment Programme has endorsed the paper's conclusions in its quadrennial assessment of ozone depletion.

Christina Williamson received the award in the Science and Engineering category for exhibiting sustained scientific and engineering excellence while passionately pursuing a scientific vision involving improving, modifying, and calibrating a set of unique instruments to measure the size and number of newly formed atmospheric nano-particles. She is operating these instruments during a set of challenging, global-scale airborne measurements to produce a unique dataset that maps out regions of new particle formation in the remote atmosphere, and using these observations to challenge and improve the global models that simulate important but uncertain climate processes. She has seen this multi-year effort through instrument development and testing, four around-the-world measurement campaigns, and the analysis and publication of results. Additionally, she has served as a vocal advocate to the public and a range of scientific communities, maintaining and contributing to blogs, a twitter feed, and presenting at numerous conferences.

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Bob Banta is recognized with the 2019 NOAA Distinguished Career Award for Scientific Achievement. He was cited for developing and advancing atmospheric LIDAR observations that improved weather forecast models and our understanding of boundary layer processes. Bob is highly deserving of this award for his many contributions to CSD and many years of Federal service. He received this well-deserved recognition at the award ceremony on May 14 at at the NOAA Science Center, OAR Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Several CSD scientists are recognized for milestones in their years of service with CIRES: Amy Butler (5), Aditya Choukulkar (5), Mike Hardesty, (5), Daniel Law (5), Richard McLaughlin (5), Jan Kazil (10), Troy Thornberry (15), and Eric Ray (20).

Alessandro (Ale) Franchin (as Vice-Chair & Executive Meeting Representative and CSD representative) and Joe Katich (as CSD representative) on the CIRES Members' Council (CMC) provided leadership and support for the very successful 2019 CIRES Rendezvous on May 17^th. Several in CSD contributed posters and attended the event.

Congratulations to all for these achievements.