Subdivision
| • | 105. Physical Earth Sciences | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Dr. Inez Y. Fung | | | Institution: | University of California, Berkeley | | | Year Elected: | 2014 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 105. Physical Earth Sciences | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1949 | | | | | | |
Inez Fung's research focuses on climate change and the global carbon cycle. Her work in climate modeling predicts the co-evolution of carbon dioxide and climate and concludes that the diminishing capacities of the land and oceans to store carbon act to accelerate global warming.
A native of Hong Kong, Inez Fung received her S.B. in Applied Mathematics and her Sc.D. in Meteorology from MIT. After her NRC postdoctoral fellowship at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, she was affiliated with NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, and the University of Victoria in Canada. She joined the faculty of the University of California, Berekely in 1998 and is a Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.
Among her numerous honors are Fellowship in the American Meteorological Society and of the American Geophysical Union; the Roger Revelle Medal of the American Geophysical Union; membership of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and Academia Sinica (Taiwan); and the 2019 Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society. She was a contributing author to the Assessment Reports of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Al Gore.
Fung is a subject in a biography series for middle-school readers "Women's Adventure in Science" launched by the National Academy of Sciences. The title of her biography is "Forecast Earth." | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. Susan W. Kieffer | | | Institution: | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | | | Year Elected: | 2014 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 105. Physical Earth Sciences | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1942 | | | | | | |
Susan W. Kieffer became Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2013, where she had served as Center for Advanced Study Professor of Geology and Physics, Walgreen University Chair, and affiliate faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2000. After she received a Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology she was assistant professor of geology at the University of California, Los Angeles, 1973-79, a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, 1979-90, professor of geology, 1989-91, and Regents' Professor of Geology, 1991-93, at Arizona State University, and professor of geological sciences and head of geological sciences at the University of British Columbia, 1993-95. In 1995 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship and co-founded Kieffer & Woo, Inc. the following year.
Susan Kieffer pursues an eclectic mix of research in geophysical fluid dynamics. Phenomena she has investigated range from rapids in the Grand Canyon, to supersonic volcanic eruptions, to the mysterious workings of the Old Faithful geyser, to the jet of water vapor erupting from Enceladus, to plumes of volcanic ash and gas. All these systems have complex fluid dynamics as a key part of the problem, but each one of them required synthesis of concepts reaching beyond fluid dynamics. Kieffer has been very creative and fearless in attacking these various problems and finding the various tools needed to solve them. She developed a theory for predicting the thermodynamic properties of minerals, work that earned her the Mineralogical Society of America’s award for distinguished work in mineralogy. More recently, she has focused on Earth-related disasters. Her book, The Dynamics of Disaster, and blog, "Geology in Motion," bring the relevant science to a wide audience and also provide thoughtful consideration of the impacts on society of rare yet cataclysmic events.
Susan Kieffer was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1986 and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1988. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2014. | |
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