topCharles E. Kolb—President–Elect, Atmospheric Sciences
Peter J. Webster—President–Elect, Atmospheric Sciences
Surabi Menon—Secretary, Aerosols and Clouds
Omar Torres—Aerosols and Clouds
Natalia Andronova—Secretary, Atmospheric Physics and Climate
John E. Mak—Secretary, Composition and Chemistry
Sasha Madronich—Secretary, Composition and Chemistry
Charles E. Kolb—President–Elect, Atmospheric Sciences
Interests include atmospheric chemistry and physics, and combustion chemistry. B.S., 1967, chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; M.A., 1968, Ph.D., 1971, physical chemistry, Princeton University. Aerodyne Research, Inc.(ARI), senior scientist, 1971–1975; principle scientist, 1975–1977; director, Center for Chemical and Environmental Physics, 1977–1979; corporate vice president and director, Applied Sciences Division, 1979–1980; executive vice president and director, Research, 1981–1984. Service on 16 National Research Council committees and boards, including Atmospheric Chemistry Committee (member, 1987–1990; chair, 1990–1993); Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (1990–1993 and 1997–2000); and Significance of International Transport of Air Pollutants Committee (chair, 2008–2009). National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for Geosciences (1998–2000), American Chemical Society (ACS) Northeastern section (chair elect, 1990; chair, 1991; trustee, 1994–1996); Richards Medal Committee (member, 1998–2004; chair, 2005–2006); Esselen Award Committee (member, 2007–2008; chair, 2009–2010); National ACS: Committee on Environmental Improvement (associate, 2001–2002; member, 2003–2009; vice chair, 2005; chair, 2006–2008); Presidential Innovation Task Force (2007–2008). American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Optical Society of America (Allen Prize Committee: member, 2000; chair, 2001), Combustion Institute, Union of Concerned Scientists. Published 200 refereed papers, 30 in AGU journals. Fellow of AGU, ACS, American Physical Society, AAAS, OSA. ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology; ACS Hill Memorial Award; National Academies National Associate. Atmospheric sciences editor, Geophysical Research Letters, 1996–1999; Atmospheric Sciences Fellows Committee, 2004–2007.
Statement: Trained as a physical chemist, I am an atmospheric sciences (AS) convert, entering the field in the mid-1970s, partially because I wrote a thesis on the chemical kinetics of small halocarbon molecules, a topic unexpectedly relevant to stratospheric ozone depletion. As a convert, I may be more fanatical than those formally trained in the field. There are two key issues that I would like to work with the new AGU Council to address.
First, I am concerned that AGU's long-held status as the leading scientific society publisher for atmospheric physics and chemistry research is at risk. I learned most of what I know about the atmosphere by reading AGU journals; now these journals, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, Geophysical Research Letters, and Reviews of Geophysics, are in danger of losing their premier positions in our field. Atmospheric science is inherently international. Those who work on multinational projects recognize that many international colleagues, driven by the fact that many have limited access to AGU journals, prefer to publish in open-access journals like the European Geosciences Union's highly successful Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics and Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. Further, GRL faces direct competition from Environmental Research Letters and Nature Geoscience. I want to work with AS members and AGU's publications staff to reverse the decline of AGU's position as the publisher of choice for most important atmospheric science papers.
Second, I want to be sure young atmospheric scientists have full access to our field. I organized (with Mario Molina) the first Atmospheric Chemistry Colloquium for Emerging Senior Scientists (ACCESS) in 1991. Every other year ACCESS brings 2 dozen to 3 dozen young atmospheric chemists together to discuss their research, meet funding agency representatives, and join senior colleagues at the Atmospheric Chemistry Gordon Conference. I have also helped organize AGU symposia featuring younger scientists' research and panel discussions designed to address issues they raise. These activities introduce younger scientists to both their peers and selected senior colleagues, allowing them to start building the professional contacts required for long-term success. I would like to work with younger AS members to provide more opportunities to showcase their capabilities and establish their professional networks.
Peter J. Webster—President–Elect, Atmospheric Sciences
B.S., applied physics, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1964); Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1972). Professor and director of the Program in Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences at University of Colorado (1992–20002). Professor, Department of Meteorology at Pennsylvania State University (1983–1992). Tata Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India (1981–1982). Adjunct professor at Monash University, Australia (1979–1983). Principal research scientist at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Aspendale, Australia (1977–1983). Graduated 23 doctoral students. Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, Royal Meteorological Society, and American Association for the Advancement of Science. Honors and awards: Pennsylvania State Wilson Award for Excellence in Research (1989), Senior Humboldt Fellow (1990), Special Creativity Awards from the National Science Foundation (1990, 1999), Jule G. Charney Award from the American Meteorological Society (1990), Special Achievement Award with Roger Lukas from the American Meteorological Society (1995), Carl Gustav Rossby Research Medal (2003) from American Meteorological Society, and Adrian Gill Award (2003) from the Royal Meteorological Society. Received Best Faculty Paper (2006) and Outstanding Faculty Research Author Award (2007) from Georgia Institute of Technology. Member of the International Monsoon Experiment Steering group (1974–1980); member and chair of the international WCRP TOGA Scientific Steering Group (1985–1991); cochair of the U.S. TOGA COARE panel (1989–1994); member of the WCRP CLIVAR Working Group on the Australia-Asia monsoon (1996–2006); member of the IOOC Indian Ocean Committee; member of the Presidential Climate Change Science Program's Synthesis and Assessment Product 3.3 (2006); and member of AGU Atmosphere's Fellows Committee for a number of years. Lead scientist in a number of meteorological and climate field experiments: the Winter MONEX (1979–1980), the Equatorial Mesoscale Experiment (1987–1988), the TOGA COARE experiment (1992–1993), and the JASMINE experiment (1999). Over 140 refereed journal articles with 6000+ citations. Have concentrated for the past 3 decades on the investigation of tropical atmospheres and oceans with an emphasis on the monsoons of Asia. Have applied my theoretical and modeling knowledge to useful prediction tools, including serving as director of the Climate Forecast Applications in Bangladesh project, which issues operational flood forecasts of the Ganges and Brahmaputra on time scales of days to seasons, which led to successful evacuations well ahead of the serious Brahmaputra floods in 2007 and 2008. Most recently, have worked on the role hurricanes and tropical storms play in the heat balance of the planet and how their characteristics may be changing in a warming climate.
Statement: I am honored to be nominated for the position of president-elect of the Atmospheric Sciences section. The AGU Atmospheric Sciences section plays vital roles in promoting first-rate and important atmospheric science research, the professional development of its younger members, recognition of members making substantial contributions, and informing the public on exciting scientific advances and issues relevant to society. With the prospect of a changing climate, these roles are now more vital than ever, especially in a world where there exists a tide of misinformation. Thus the main modes of communication (annual meetings, publications, press releases) have ever increasing value, and I would like to see AGU foster more effective communication of science to the public, policy makers, and the media. A critical issue is the accessibility of science, scientific methods, and data. The issue of global warming is so important for national and international policy and economics that all of climate science has to be transparent and open. I propose to work with AGU and other scientific and professional societies toward generating policies of "glasnost" in data, methodology, and models to increase the credibility of climate science by the broader scientific community, the public, and decision makers.
It is heartening to see the expanding international role of AGU through a large international delegation of foreign members and joint meetings being held in Canada and Europe. I would like to see this international role expanded even more and heighten the involvement of the developing countries. My work in India and Bangladesh has shown me how joint projects that apply modern geosciences to practical problems can make a difference. I would also like to foster increased interactions with other sections on cutting-edge interdisciplinary topics for joint sessions, Union sessions, and public outreach.
I am committed to an AGU that is vibrant, engages interdisciplinarily and effectively across sections, and is vital and relevant to society. I look forward, if elected, to the privilege of serving the Atmospheric Sciences section for the benefit of the science, the section members, and broader engagement with policy makers and the public.
Surabi Menon—Secretary, Aerosols and Clouds
Research interests include aerosol-cloud-climate interactions, global climate modeling, climate impact assessment, and economic projections of climate change impacts. Ph.D., 1998, North Carolina State University; M.S., 1994, Purdue University; B.S., 1991, University of Mumbai, India. Postdoctoral scientist and associate research scientist at Columbia University and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 1999–2004. Author of 40 peer-reviewed publications. Contributing author of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on aerosol-cloud-climate interactions. Convener, and on scientific committee, of meetings at AGU and elsewhere. Cofounder of an environmental nongovernmental organization working on reducing use of fossil fuel through solar technology.
Omar Torres—Secretary, Aerosols and Clouds
Research interests include remote sensing of aerosol properties, radiative transfer modeling, and climate effects of aerosols. B.S., 1980, Francisco José de Caldas District University, Bogota, Colombia; M.S., 1982, meteorology, University of the Philippines; Ph.D., 1989, atmospheric sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Research scientist, STX Corp., Lanham, Md., 1989–1998; Research associate professor, Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1998–2008. Author and coauthor of 55 peer-reviewed publications, 37 in AGU journals. Served as member of GACP, TOMS, NPP, Calipso-CloudSat, Aura, and Glory-APS science teams; principal investigator, Aura-OMI aerosol product. NASA OMI Group Achievement Award, 2009; Naval Research Laboratory Alan Berman Research Publications Award, 2008; William T. Pecora Group Award, Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Team, 2006; NASA Group Achievement Award, TOMS Team, 2006; NASA Group Achievement Award, Aura Project, 2005; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Aerocenter Journal Citation Award, 2005. Coordinated AGU meeting special sessions.
Natalia Andronova—Secretary, Atmospheric Physics and Climate
Research interests are in the areas of global and regional climate change; climate sensitivity and climate feedbacks; atmospheric interactions and teleconnections. Ph.D., 1993, atmospheric science, from Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Moscow; M.S., 1975, fluid hydrodynamics, and B.S., 1973, mathematics, from Leningrad State University; B.S., psychology, 1980, from Leningrad School of Public Education. Scientific researcher, Main Geophysical Observatory, 1975–1991; research specialist, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991–2005; at University of Michigan since then. Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Author and coauthor of 73 refereed publications, 15 in AGU journals. Among them, Andronova, N., et al. (2009), Observed and modeled evolution of the tropical mean radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere since 1985, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D14106, doi:10.1029/2008JD011560; Andronova, N. G., et al. (2004), Are reconstructed pre-instrumental hemispheric temperatures consistent with instrumental hemispheric temperatures, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L12202, doi:10.1029/2004GL019658; Andronova, N., and M. E. Schlesinger (2001), Objective estimation of the probability density function for climate sensitivity, J. Geophys. Res., 106(D19), 22,605–22,611; Andronova, N., and M. E. Schlesinger (2000), Causes of global temperature changes during the 19th and 20th centuries, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27(14), 2137–2140; Andronova, N., et al. (1999), Radiative forcing by volcanic aerosols from 1850 to 1994, J. Geophys. Res., 104(D14), 16,807–16,826; Andronova, N., and M. E. Schlesinger (1991), The application of cause-and-effect analysis to mathematical models of geophysical phenomena: 1. Formulation and sensitivity analysis, J. Geophys. Res., 96(D1), 941–946. Participant in Working Group VIII of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Agreement on Protection of the Environment and Its Relationship to the U.S. National Climate Program. Contributing author to the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Three years on the AGU (Global Change) Student Award Committee. Convener of two recent AGU sessions, and convener of the Chapman Conference on Atmospheric Water Vapor and Its Role in Climate (2008).
Statement:
John E. Mak—Secretary, Composition and Chemistry
Areas of interest include atmospheric chemistry, trace gas isotope geochemistry, marine chemistry, and analytical development. B.S. in chemistry, 1987, University of California, Irvine; Ph.D. in oceanography, 1992, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. Director, Atmospheric Chemistry Program, National Science Foundation (2009); associate professor, ITPA/SOMAS, Stony Brook University (2001 to present); associate director, Atmospheric Chemistry Program, National Science Foundation (2007–2009); assistant professor, ITPA/SOMAS, Stony Brook University (1995–2000); Department of Energy Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1992–1994). La Poste Rouge (fellowship), Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l'Environnement du CNRS, Grenoble, France (2000); National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient (1998); Department of Energy Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1992); American Geophysical Union Outstanding Student Speaker, 1991 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco (1992). Eighteen publications in peer-reviewed journals, nine in AGU journals; four manuscripts in review.
Sasha Madronich—Secretary, Composition and Chemistry
Studied engineering physics (B.S., 1974; M.Eng., 1975) and electrical engineering (M.S., 1977) at Cornell University, and chemistry at York University (Ph.D., 1982), with a dissertation on stratospheric photolysis reactions. From 1982 to 1985, staff physicist with AeroChem Research Laboratories in Princeton, N. J., focusing on chemical kinetic measurements at high temperatures. In 1985, joined NCAR initially to work on the regional acid precipitation model, and later headed the theoretical studies and modeling section of the chemistry division. Research focuses on tropospheric chemical mechanisms leading to the production of secondary aerosols, ozone, and other oxidants, and on atmospheric radiative transfer at ultraviolet wavelengths with related effects on photochemistry and the biosphere. In 2006 led the Mega-cities Impact on Regional and Global Environments (MIRAGE) field campaign in and near Mexico City. Coauthored over 120 reviewed publications, 51 in AGU journals, and contributed to several international assessments (United Nations Environment Programme, World Meteorological Organization, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).