ICTP Prize 2015 Announced

ICTP has awarded its 2015 ICTP Prize to two young scientists particularly active in the fields of atmospheric chemistry and physics in connection with climate science:

• Dr. Aijun Ding for his outstanding contribution to the analysis and simulation of chemical and physical processes related to tropospheric pollution. Ding’s studies notably brought new observational and modelling insights on the two-way interactions between anthropogenic pollution, meteorological phenomena and natural components of the earth system such as dust aerosol. Ding’s leading works have found immediate applications in terms of understanding and improving air quality and health impacts, as well as meteorological and climate predictions over East Asia. Ding is a Professor at the School of Atmospheric Science, Nanjing University, China.
• Dr. Vijayakumar S. Nair for his outstanding contribution in the domain of aerosol-climate interactions. Dr. Nair's studies have greatly contributed to a better physical and chemical characterization of absorbing aerosol (soot and natural dust) over heavily polluted regions of India, as well as to a better understanding of how these particles might affect regional hydro-climate through various radiative forcing pathways. Dr. Nair's competencies extend from theoretical aspects of aerosol-radiation interactions to aerosol observational remote sensing techniques as well as climate modelling. Dr. Nair is presently working as a junior scientist at the Space Physics Laboratory of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Kerala, India.

The 2015 ICTP Prize honours the memory of Professor Stephen Henry Schneider, one of the most prominent figures in climate change research. Born in New York City in 1945, Professor Schneider spent a good portion of his career at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, Colorado, and was then professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change at Stanford University. Professor Schneider was one of the pioneers in the study of the effects of greenhouse gases and aerosols on the Earth's climate and, in addition to global change, worked on a number of issues of societal interest, such as the "Nuclear Winter" theory and the GAIA hypothesis. He authored over 450 scientific papers on an extremely wide range of topics within the climate and global change sciences, including not only the physical aspects of it, but also the environmental, ecological, energy and socioeconomic aspects. In 1992 he was awarded the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" and in 2002 was elected as a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. With exceptional skills in communicating science, Professor Schneider was also a prominent public figure who often interacted with the media and participated in public debates. He served as a consultant to federal agencies and White House staff in the administrations of the last seven US presidents, and was one of the most active contributors to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007. Professor Schneider passed away in July 2010 while returning from a scientific meeting in Sweden.