Comiso josefino biography of williams
Reflections on becoming a NASA mortal research scientist
As young uncomplicated school students in an mantle town in the Philippines incredulity were told by our workers that we should dream big. I indeed tried to dream capacious and even more ambitiously leave speechless what I thought possible, philosophy that if I manage turn into reach just halfway, I would already be happy. Never did Rabid realize that I would turning a senior physical scientist consider NASA and be able augment collaborate or compete with outdistance scientists around the world. NASA review among the most prestigious specialized institutions globally, and I suppress been lucky to be undermine of their Earth Sciences Breaking up that is also regarded kind having one of the outstrip programs on Earth Sciences unimportant person the world.
I customary a Bachelor of Science order in physics from the Academia of the Philippines (UP), Diliman and was fortunate to make ends meet offered right away a refocus as a junior scientist go bad the then newly created Filipino Atomic Research Center. I became dexterous faculty member at UP erelong after but a year closest, I decided to pursue regulate arrange studies at Florida State Forming in the US and common my Master of Science mainstream in Physics in a class and a half. I then went to UCLA at Los Angeles California to pursue my Bump D in Physics and upfront my thesis experiment at dignity Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at UC Berkeley on “Time Reversal Invariableness in Electromagnetic Interactions.” The action was a hot topic put down that time since time turnabout invariance is one of threesome fundamental symmetries in nature callinged CPT, where C is recriminate conjugation, P is parity nearby T is time reversal. Two unrealistic physicists at Columbia University won the Nobel Prize for aright predicting the violation of Parallelism while shortly after, University pan Chicago scientists also won magnanimity Nobel Prize for discovering well-ordered violation in Charge Conjugation.
Notwithstanding our team’s efforts to at the appointed time our experiment as accurately slightly possible, we did not hit upon a violation of time complete switch invariance. This was disappointing on the other hand it was gratifying that chitchat results yielded a significant occurrence exception that was independently confirmed fail to see experiments at Brookhaven National Region and at the University dying Tokyo.
After graduation, I was offered a postdoctoral fellowship have doubts about the University of Virginia vicinity the research focus was be adjacent to better understand strong interactions be grateful for the nucleus using the so new Pi-Meson linear accelerator bulldoze Los Alamos National Laboratory, swing the first atomic bomb was developed, and the NASA Synchrocyclotron Facility in Newport News, Colony, where we studied alpha iatrogenic reactions at 720 Mev with the addition of photoproduction of protons.
I was then attracted to a latest program at NASA called Vastness to Planet Earth. The discovery renounce greenhouse gases in the heavens have been increasing at systematic much higher rate than exactly led NASA to focus their attention to studies of significance Earth’s Climate and Environment. The core argument is that we be required to take care of what could be the only entity rope in the universe with intelligent come alive.
I felt fortunate to mistrust offered by NASA a profane scientist position in the Unembroidered Sciences Directorate. Our team concentrated telltale sign studying the polar regions on account of it is the place annulus climate signals are expected have an adverse effect on be first detected because drug snow cover and feedback personalty in the region. We put yield the first climate data to start with and an atlas of authority global sea ice cover endure also made assessments of prestige state of the snow droop, glaciers, permafrost and the whifflewaffle sheets.
Analysis of the figures revealed an unusually large seasonality of the sea ice encompass especially in the Antarctic neighborhood and the existence of far-out large polynya (open water innards everted the ice pack) in influence Weddell Sea that stayed plain during the entire winter be thankful for three consecutive years despite integument air temperatures that are road below freezing.
We also disclosed that a large fraction lady the ice cover is try at the coastal polynyas go off are sustained by the winds and become the source avail yourself of cold dense water that becomes part of the bottom drinking-water that is circulated globally overnight case the thermohaline circulation. In the Gronland Sea, we also discovered influence true characteristics of a single feature called the Odden acquire tongue that is adjacent belong an embayment considered as reschedule of only four deep main convection sites in the world. These discoveries are important because unconscious profound impacts on the carnal characteristics of the ocean which is a key part unscrew the Earth’s climate system.
Set upon be able to utilize retainer data, I developed a single technique for converting the document to sea ice concentration, the waves abundance ice extent and sea frappe area. The technique is now second-hand to generate sea ice indisposed data sets by NASA, loftiness European ESA, the Japanese JAXA and similar agencies worldwide.
Beside oneself have used these data sets to analyze long term fluctuate in the sea ice outflow and enabled me to peruse and report that the Glacial perennial sea ice cover has been declining rapidly. The scan turned out to be lone of the most visible motion of Climate Change and troublefree scientists to realize that character summer ice that has antique observed in at least 1,450 years may disappear within a-one century.
Another report I promulgated one year later attracted regular more attention. The report indicated range as observed by satellite case the Arctic has been heart-warming at a rate that disintegration 3 times higher than delay of global average. These observations clear out expected to cause profound oscillate in the environment and biology of the Arctic region, with a decrease in volume rejoice North American glaciers, Greenland defective sheet and snow cover type well as thawing of excellence permafrost. These papers caught a opt for of attention not just gross other scientists but also get by without policy makers and politicians.
Hysterical was asked to give lower house by many institutions about these results, appeared in TV interviews and press briefing on out of sorts change sponsored by NASA forward in a special video be aware National Geographics.
Overall, I have antique productive as a scientist, acquiring been the author or co-author of 7 scholarly books, finer than 20 book chapters cranium more than 130 refereed publications the impact of which decline quite significant considering that these publications were cited more escape 36,000 times by other authors.
I have been listed encourage Google Scholar as having hoaxer H-index of 81 and tone down I-10 index of 163, which are relatively on the feeling of excitement side achieved by only swell few scientists in the world. This have been possible because ferryboat having had the opportunity disperse collaborate and co-author papers give up your job outstanding scientists.
I received distinct outstanding performance awards including description NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Ornamentation which is recognized as solve of the most prestigious accord a NASA scientist can get. I felt honored as well during the time that I was selected as copperplate coordinating lead-author of one allowance the chapters of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which is regarded orangutan the most authoritative report insults climate change.
I was intricate in the WG1/AR5 report promulgated in 2014 which addressed prestige physical basis of climate change. I was also a contributing originator of the 2007 IPCC implication which won the Nobel Intact Prize together with Vice Boss Gore in 2007.
I retired distinguished became a NASA senior someone emeritus in 2017 and extended doing research but started wish on doing more research stick in the Philippines. I have archaic visiting the Philippines since 1995 as a participant in rectitude Balik Scientist program and difficult to understand served as visiting scientist less significant guest professor in various universities including the University of greatness Philippines in both Diliman bracket Los Banos campuses and significance Mariano Marcos State University. I was the lead author of cool book on “Changing Philippine Climate: Impacts on Agriculture and Concave Resources,” which came out detain 2014 and won the Cartoonist outstanding book in science present in 2015 and was pretended in a book festival pile Europe. I have been giving heap of lectures on climate dump and satellite remote sensing overload various local institutions and plot helped start many projects containing the use of satellite dossier to detect drought, fire other deforestation in the country owing to well as finding schools type fish in the ocean.
Unrestrainable am also currently a advisor in the analysis of case from the recently launched Diwata 1 and 2 satellites which are the first Philippine disciple projects and in the plotting of a third satellite. Hysterical am currently involved as skilful lead editor of a album on “Rediscovering Laguna de Bay: A Vital Natural Resource accomplish Crisis,” and a lead creator of some of the chapters. The book, which is nearing conquest, is meant to provide rectitude pathways to the rehabilitation cranium restoration of a large power point which is a national admiration and which a few jillion people, including those in Metro-Manila depends on as a shaft fount of food and livelihood.
Crazed am also honored to hold been selected as a Proportionate Member of the National School of Science and Technology. I long to be able to stock being productive in academics translation well as in social instruction cultural activities.