Meredith Hastings received the 2014 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, held 15–19 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes “research contributions by exceptional mid-career scientists in the fields of atmospheric and climate sciences.”
CITATION
We congratulate Dr. Meredith Hastings, winner of a 2014 Ascent Award “for outstanding contributions to the modeling of aerosol properties and their impact on climate in the troposphere and lower stratosphere.”
-Peter Webster, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
Response
I am grateful for the acknowledgement of this award. Thank you to my nominators, supporters, and the American Geophysical Union Atmospheric Sciences section awards committee for this honor. There are many aspects of my career that I find exciting and fulfilling—from the big picture of trying to understand changes in the environment to mentoring students to watching the data come off the mass spec—and the recognition from an award like this is additionally inspiring and energizing.
My “village” is rich and diverse, and I have so much appreciation for all of those who have influenced my path inside and outside science, from Dr. Gottfried, my eighth-grade science teacher who related everything to how the ocean works, to my high school and college mentors (special thanks to Joe Zawodny, Frank Millero, Gay Ingram, Jamie Goen, Dan O’Sullivan, Esa Peltola, Linda Farmer, Dan DiResta, and Peter Milne), to the deep and enriching education I received at Princeton. I am a better scientist for having worked with Danny Sigman (and Michael Bender, Bess Ward, George Philander, and Jorge Sarmiento). I cannot thank Chip Levy enough for leading me into atmospheric sciences and for his support, confidence, excellent mentoring, and care in balancing work and life. Thanks too for the interactions, advice, and training in knowability I received at the University of Washington from Gerard Roe, David Battisti, Eric Steig, and Tom Ackerman. The amazing women that are members of the Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN) and my colleague, friend, and cheerleader Tracey Holloway, I have so benefited all along the way from your advice and support. Today, I am surrounded at Brown University by excellent colleagues, fantastic students, and Ruby Ho, without whom my lab would not be productive! To my amazing and supportive husband, Eric, and our beautiful girls, Anne and Lyla, thank you for being a constant source of joy.
—Meredith Hastings, Brown University, Providence