GMD Aerosol Group Awarded the 2013 U.S. Department of Commerce Silver Medal
The NOAA/ESRL Global Monitoring Division Aerosol Group has been awarded the 2013 U.S. Department of Commerce Silver Medal for the establishment and operation of the NOAA Federated Aerosol Network. The Department of Commerce Silver Medal is the second highest award presented by the United States Secretary of Commerce. Awarded to federal employees since 1949, this award recognizes achievement supporting critical objectives of the Department of Commerce with significant beneficial effect on the United States. John Ogren and Patrick Sheridan attended the awards ceremony in Washington DC in late January 2014. The University of Colorado (CIRES) scientists of the GMD aerosol group (Betsy Andrews, Derek Hageman and Anne Jefferson) will receive the equivalent CIRES Silver Medal at a ceremony in May 2014.
The Award citation states:
For establishing an international, cooperative network to make coordinated, long-term measurements of aerosol climate-forcing properties.
The following GMD Aerosol Group accomplishments were recognized for the Award:
- Their vision in recognizing that NOAA's network of six baseline stations is inadequate for characterizing the diverse nature of aerosols around the globe,
- Their creativity and strategic thinking in developing an approach for exporting the experimental methods used at NOAA's stations to external partners,
- Their leadership in implementing these methods at a cooperative network comprising 24 stations in 10 countries (as of late 2012).
photo courtesy of NOAA
Left to Right:
Penny Pritzker
(US Secretary of Commerce)
John Ogren
Patrick Sheridan
(GMD aerosol group)
Kathy Sullivan
(NOAA Administrator)
The end result is a data set for assessing the ability of global climate models to represent the trends and variations of aerosol climate-forcing properties around the globe.
We wish to sincerely thank all of our collaborators and colleagues who have contributed to this honor. The Federated Aerosol Network would not be possible without all of your hard work and dedicated effort, so you share in this Award. It is satisfying to know that our work is being honored not only at the NOAA level, but also at the highest levels of the US Government.