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3 STAR Scientists Honored with Dept. of Commerce 2010 Gold Medal Awards

Changyong Cao, Shobha Kondragunta & Mitch Goldberg
Changyong Cao, Shobha Kondragunta & Mitch Goldberg

19 October 2010 - On Tuesday, 19 October, at the 62nd annual Department of Commerce Honor Awards, held at the Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheater in Washington, DC, 3 STAR scientists received Gold Medals honoring their work on 2 different projects. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke addressed the assembly, and praised the work of the award winners. STAR scientists honored with Gold Medals were Changyong Cao, Mitch Goldberg, and Shobha Kondragunta.

Additionally, on October 28, Mitch Goldberg was honored with a 2010 Administrator's Award "For organizing and leading an international program to ensure the accuracy and comparability of measurements from earth observing satellites." The Global Space-based Intercalibration System (GSICS) has been worked on by Mitch and his team for several years now.

STAR congratulates all the awardees for their hard work and excellent efforts.

Click any photo below to view a larger version.

 

Changyong Cao's Award Group; click to view enlargement
Changyong Cao, second from left; Mitch Golberg, 4th from left.

Gold Medal for Leadership

  • Mary E. Kicza
  • W. Stan Wilson
  • D. Brent Smith
  • Linda V. Moodie
  • Kerry A. Sawyer
  • Mitchell D. Goldberg
  • Changyong Cao
  • Kenneth R. McDonald
 

The group is recognized for mobilizing space agencies worldwide to achieve demonstrated results in implementing the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO). NOAA leadership secured concrete commitments -- the first ever -- from heads of over 20 space agencies to address gaps in observation for priority societal needs. Such needs includede the global monitoring of greenhouse gases from space and forset carbon tracking as identified by GEO, the Group of Eight Industrialized Nations, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Shobha Kondragunta's award; click to enlarge
Shobha Kondragunta, middle

Gold Medal for Scientific / Engineering Achievement

  • Shobha Kondragunta
 

Dr. Kondragunta is recognized for her contributions to NOAA's air quality program by developing a suite of new products from NOAA satellites, which include atmospheric smoke concentration, burned area, biomass fuel load, trace gas and aeroslol biomass burning emissions, and nitrogen dioxide. Her collaborations with other agencies have led to the application of these products in various air quality decision support systems at EPA and the National Weather Srvice.