Andrew E. Dessler, Jose L. Jimenez, Stephen A. Klein, and Athanasios Nenes received 2012 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Awards at the 2012 AGU Fall Meeting, held 3–7 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes “research contributions by exceptional mid-career scientists in the fields of atmospheric and climate sciences.”
Citation
The Atmospheric Sciences section of AGU awards one of the four Ascent Awards to Dr. Stephen Klein of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The award is made for the substantial contributions Dr. Klein has made toward understanding some of the field’s most important problems, the interaction of clouds and climate through (as noted in his nomination) “the careful analysis of observations, the insightful use of models of varying complexity and his ability to synthesize diverse strands of knowledge.”
He has worked on a broad range of problems, from microphysical processes in mixed-phase Arctic clouds to the role of clouds in ocean-atmosphere interactions. He is described as working “at the important intersection of cloud observations, analysis, and climate model development.” His work is summarized as “doing it all, in a challenging field, successfully bridging across areas of research…in a way no one else in the U.S. can match.” His nominators point toward the enormous influence he has had on advancing the study of clouds and climate, and he is described as “pioneering contributions in every facet of our field, from the development of new ideas, to the building of tools, to the creation of important organizational structures.”
Dr. Klein’s Ascent Award is well deserved and results from his thoughtful and important research into the critical problems associated with the interaction of clouds and climate.
Response
I am honored to receive this recognition. I wish to thank all those who have helped me in my career, including those from where I received my education as well as those I have encountered at the different positions I have held. I have been very fortunate in interacting with many great people.
—STEPHEN A. KLEIN, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif.