2024 News & Events

Dr. Ru-Shan Gao receives a 2023 NOAA Distinguished Career Award for Scientific Achievement, for "conceiving and implementing novel experimental and analytical techniques to improve understanding of atmospheric chemistry and physics." Ru-Shan is highly deserving of this award for his significant contributions to CSL and many years of Federal service.

The Distinguished Career award is given to those who have contributed a significant body of professional work and who have helped achieve NOAA's mission over the course of their careers. Rather than honoring just a single accomplishment, this award recognizes those who have continued to meet and exceed expectations in their field during their tenure at NOAA.

Dr. Gao is honored for his outstanding contributions to atmospheric science sustained over more than two decades in the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory. He has demonstrated exceptional creativity and innovation in designing, constructing and deploying instruments to measure aerosol (small particles) and gases in the atmosphere and in the analyses of his atmospheric field measurements in the troposphere and stratosphere that have led to many insights and discoveries. The NOAA mission has benefited substantially from his outstanding productivity as a research scientist.

He made major contributions to improving atmospheric measurements of gases, aerosols, and radiation, and conducted observations and analyses that elucidated chemical and physical processes relevant to air quality, climate, and the stratospheric ozone layer. With more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, 8 invention disclosures and the technology transfer of a new instrument, his portfolio of accomplishments exceeds that of many of his peers.

Over his long career, Dr. Gao has been an extremely generous and collaborative colleague, mentoring many postdoctoral students and scientists inside and outside of NOAA.

Ru-Shan retired in 2022 after 23 years of Federal service with NOAA, and currently has a CIRES appointment with CSL's Atmospheric Composition & Chemical Processes research group. He receives this well-deserved recognition at the NOAA Awards Ceremony on October 24th in Silver Spring, Maryland, and at the NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Awards Ceremony on December 18th.