© 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Eos, Vol. 95, No. 29, 22 July 2014 ABOUT AGU Bitz, Ginoux, Jacobson, Nizkorodov, and Yang Receive 2013 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Awards Cecilia M. Bitz, Paul A. Ginoux, Mark Z. Jacobson, Sergey Nizkorodov, and Ping Yang received 2013 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Awards at the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting, held 9–13 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes “research contributions by exceptional mid-career scientists in the fields of atmospheric and climate sciences.” PAGES 265–266 Citation for Cecilia M. Bitz The Atmospheric Sciences section of AGU awards one of the five Ascent Awards to Professor Cecilia M. Bitz of the Atmospheric Sciences Department at the University of Washington for advancing our ability to model climate in numerous ways, especially in rela- tion to sea ice. Bitz is best known for her integrated and powerful contributions on Arctic sea ice. She developed improved representations of sea ice physics for implementation in cou- pled global climate models to determine the role of sea ice in the climate system and high-latitude climate and the role of chang- ing sea ice in climate change. She was able to show from first principles that sea ice thinning greatly amplifies climate variability. Working from her improved understand- ing of sea ice, Cecilia assessed the controls on Arctic amplification in climate models, finding strong dependence on the mean state of the sea ice. From this finding, Bitz provides a path toward improved model projections. Her research deals with both complex systems and important problems in climate. As stated by her nominator regarding aspects of the climate system, “understanding the recent decline is a very complex challenge since its attribution requires quantification of the roles of ocean heat transport, atmo- spheric heat fluxes, sea-ice age distribu- tions, and unforced interannual modes of coupled Arctic variability among many other factors.” In noting Cecilia’s qualifications for an Ascent Award, one letter of support stated, “Professor Bitz’s scholarship on sea ice is both superlative and unmatched among her faculty peers. This is especially evident given her rapid climb in international standing as she has progressed from an early-career scientist to mid-career faculty member.” Another stated, “As a high-latitude scientist, Cecilia has gained an enormous respect in the community, and her advice and opin- ion is valued in the United States and the world.” We are extremely pleased to present a 2013 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award to Profes- sor Cecilia M. Bitz. —PETER J. WEBSTER, Georgia Institute of Tech- nology, Atlanta Response I am delighted and honored to receive this award. I am grateful to my nominators and to the AGU Atmospheric Sciences sec- tion for this recognition. Many of my students and colleagues have become my friends over the years. It has been a pleasure to share the joy of scientific discovery and compan- ionship with them. I am also fortunate to have had teachers and advisors who inspired me and were generous with their time and encouragement. I am grateful for having had the opportu- nity to be a part of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) project. From early in my career, I have been asked to serve on vari- ous committees with the CESM, National Research Council, and National Science Foundation that have helped me grow and exposed me to fantastic scientists, leaders, and mentors. I feel that some have gambled when they chose me for various positions. I shall strive to be as bold when I have the opportunity to choose others for such oppor- tunities in the future. —CECILIA M. BITZ, Atmospheric Sciences Depart- ment, University of Washington, Seattle Citation for Paul A. Ginoux The Atmospheric Sciences section of AGU awards one of the five Ascent Awards to Dr. Paul A. Ginoux of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for outstanding world-leading research on dust aerosols using observations and models that has contributed to a comprehensive scientific understanding of atmospheric aerosols.” Ginoux investigates the role of dust in cli- mate using a wide range of data and method- ologies. He has extracted information from observations obtained from multiple platforms (satellites, ground-based networks, aircraft, lidar), constructed parameterizations for a range of numerical model types, and formu- lated model intercomparisons and assess- ments against observations. In conducting his research, Paul has collab- orated widely across institutions and with sci- entists nationally and internationally. As stated by his nominator, “he has been unselfish… freely imparting his knowledge and findings… in order for the science to become wholesome and for the knowledge to be integrated.” Paul is responsible for the extremely im- portant result that anthropogenic activity (primarily agricultural in origin) contributes about 25% of the observed atmospheric con- centration of dust. This would seem to be of immense importance for climate research as the field attempts to determine the relative influences of man and natural variability in a changing climate. Ginoux’s research on the physical nature of dust aerosols, their emissions, the manner in which they are transported and transformed that he has deduced from first physical princi- ples, numerical techniques, and observations garners the following accolades from his nom- inators: “world-leading scientific credentials par excellence,” “among the among the top world experts spanning virtually all areas of relevance in aerosol physics,” and “is really an outstanding scientist with a lot of imagina- tion and a sense of perfection. He is working very systematically and rigorously. I regard him as a real world scientific leader and a pio- neering scholar. Undoubtedly, he is one of the few top specialists in dust modeling with a rare intellectual breadth.” We are extremely pleased to present a 2013 Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award to Dr. Paul A. Ginoux. —PETER J. WEBSTER, Georgia Institute of Tech- nology, Atlanta Cecilia M. Bitz