July 19, 2011

This fall Arlene Fiore, Ph.D., will become the second NOAA scientist ever to receive the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) prestigious James. B. Macelwane Medal. Fiore, an atmospheric chemist with the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., is being honored for her discoveries on ozone pollution and climate impacts.

AGU presents the Macelwane Medal annually “for significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by an outstanding young scientist.” The award was established in 1961 and is named for a former AGU president who held a deep interest in teaching and encouraging young scientists. Fiore will join Susan Solomon, Ph.D., (an internationally known climate scientist who until recently was with the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.) in the elite group of geophysical scientists who have received this award over the past 50 years.

“We are very proud and fortunate to have young scientists such as Arlene Fiore here at NOAA,” said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. “Her work represents pioneering creativity at the nexus of climate and air quality, and her findings present new perspectives on the role of gases that transition quickly from one form to another in climate change and air pollution.”

Fiore said she is humbled by the honor. “Much of my work is collaborative, and so I also feel like it’s an honor shared with all the people I’ve had the opportunity to work with because they have helped shape my research directions. In some sense, this is affirmation that the community sees the questions we’re working on as important.”

Those questions center on how regional air pollutants interact with global atmospheric chemistry and climate. Her research has focused on deciphering the global roles of methane in both air quality and climate, as well as the feasibility and economic and global health benefits of controlling methane emissions. She has also shed light on some of the factors contributing to ground-level ozone pollution. Fiore has authored more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Fiore has also been an active member of the American Geophysical Union EOS Editorial Advisory Board (Atmospheric Sciences) since January 2010. EOS is AGU’s weekly publication focusing on Earth and space sciences. Fiore co-founded the Earth Science Women’s Network and was a member of their Leadership Board from 2006-2010. Most recently, she was selected to be the lead author of a chapter in the upcoming Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Fiore and other award recipients will be honored on Dec. 7 at a ceremony during the 2011 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco.

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