Ensuring continuity for atmospheric research

As US government spending priorities continue to shift, we and our philanthropic partners have been keeping a close eye on the impacts that proposed cuts could have on atmospheric research and monitoring capabilities.

Earlier this year, we saw that proposed funding cuts were already affecting the people and programs critical to understanding atmospheric chemistry. Uncertainty and reductions in support were forcing talented scientists to leave the field. Losing experts from organizations like NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory would set back efforts to understand chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere, reduce uncertainties in future climate projections, and limit our ability to prepare for extreme weather and public health risks.

This is why we are happy to support a fellowship that will help ensure continuity for key contributors to government research and monitoring programs, allowing them to continue their efforts to better understand the atmosphere without disruption.

We have already identified and supported an initial cohort of five fellows, including:

• Dr. Alexandre Baron (Research Scientist, CIRES / NOAA CSL) is using tools from satellite and balloon-borne instruments to uncover how airborne particles in the stratosphere shape the Earth’s climate.
  
• Dr. Kate Smith (Research Scientists, CIRES / NOAA CSL) is making observations of aerosol abundance and variability in the stratosphere using high altitude balloons.

• Dr. Ewa Bednarz (Research Scientist, CIRES / NOAA CSL) is working to understand potential impacts of stratospheric aerosol injection on stratospheric ozone, large scale circulation, stratosphere-troposphere coupling and surface climate. Her work uses global chemistry-climate models, focusing on understanding the underlying physical processes and narrowing the associated uncertainties through the use of a range of models, scenarios and strategies, as well as analogues with the impacts of explosive volcanic eruptions (including the recent 2022 Hunga eruption). 

• Dr. Gordon Novak (formerly a Research Chemist, CIRES / NOAA CSL) developed and maintained a unique instrument that collects measurements of chemical composition of the stratosphere. Gordon will be helping to transfer relevant program information to colleagues, support data analysis, and complete publication from prior campaigns.

• Dr. Jianhao Zhang (Research Scientist, CIRES / NOAA CSL) is developing a framework to assess the detectability of large scale Solar Radiation Management (SRM), building on methods from his previous work on the 2020 global shipping fuel regulation.

The fellows were selected based on an assessment of their research projects and individual contributions to SRM research. We are thrilled to support Alex, Kate, Ewa, Gordon and Jianhao in this work. 

This fellowship is, by design, a short-term bridge. If the proposed federal cuts move forward, programs like ours could only ever soften the immediate blow — they cannot replace the scale, stability, and reach of government investment. The ability to observe and understand our atmosphere is a public good that depends on sustained public funding. We urge policymakers to maintain — and ideally expand — these programs, and we will continue to track the situation closely alongside our philanthropic partners.