Susan Solomon

Susan Solomon
Susan Solomon
Born	1956 (age 57–58) Chicago, Illinois
Citizenship	United States
Fields	Atmospheric Chemistry
Institutions	MIT
Alma mater	B.S. (1977), Illinois Institute of Technology, M.S. (1979), Ph.D. (1981) University of California, Berkeley
Known for	Ozone Studies
Notable awards	National Medal of Science

Susan Solomon (born 1956 in Chicago)^[1] is an atmospheric chemist, working for most of her career at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.^[2] In 2011, Solomon joined the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she serves as the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry & Climate Science.^[3] Solomon was the first to propose the chlorofluorocarbon free radical reaction mechanism that is the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole.^[2]

Solomon is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences.^[4]

Biography

Early life

Solomon began her interest in science as a child watching The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.^[1] In high school she placed third in a national science fair, with a project that measured the percent of oxygen in a gas mixture.^[1]

Solomon received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1977.^[5] She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981, where she specialized in atmospheric chemistry.^[5]

Marriage

Solomon married Barry Sidwell in 1988.^[1]

Work

Solomon was formerly the head of the Chemistry and Climate Processes Group of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chemical Sciences Division until 2011. In 2011, she joined the faculty of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Books

• The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition, Yale University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-300-09921-5 - Depicts the tale of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's failed 1912 Antarctic expedition, specifically applying the comparison of modern meteorological data with that recorded by Scott's expedition in an attempt to shed new light on the reasons for the demise of Scott's polar party.
• Aeronomy of the Middle Atmosphere: Chemistry and Physics of the Stratosphere and Mesosphere, 3rd Edition, Springer, 2005 ISBN 1-4020-3284-6 - Describes the atmospheric chemistry and physics of the middle atmosphere from 10 km to 100 km altitude.

The ozone hole

Solomon, working with colleagues at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, postulated the mechanism that the Antarctic ozone hole was created by a heterogeneous reaction of ozone and chlorofluorocarbons free radicals on the surface of ice particles in the high altitude clouds that form over Antarctica. In 1986 and 1987 Solomon led the National Ozone Expedition to McMurdo Sound, where the team gathered the evidence to confirmed the accelerated reactions.^[2] Her team measured levels of chlorine oxide 100 times higher than expected in the atmosphere, which had been released by the decomposition of chlorofluorocarbons by ultraviolet radiation.^[5]

Solomon also showed that volcanoes could accelerate the reactions caused by chlorofluorocarbons, and so increase the damage to the ozone layer.^[5] Her work formed the basis of the U.N. Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to protect the ozone layer by regulating damaging chemicals.^[1]

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Solomon served as a contributing author for the Third Assessment Report^[6] and Co-Chair of Working Group 1 for the Fourth Assessment Report^[7] of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.^[2]

Awards

• 2012 - BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category
• 2010 – Service to America Medal, awarded by the Partnership for Public Service^[8]
• 2009 – Volvo Environment Prize, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences^[9]
• 2009 – Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame^[10]
• 2008 – Grande Médaille (Great Medal) of the French Academy of Sciences^[11]
• 2007 – William Bowie Medal, awarded by the American Geophysical Union
• 2006 – Inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame^[12]
• 2004 – Blue Planet Prize, awarded by the Asahi Glass Foundation^[13]
• 2000 – Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, awarded by the American Meteorological Society^[14]
• 1999 – National Medal of Science, awarded by the President of the United States^[15]
• 1994 – Solomon Glacier (78°23′S 162°30′E / 78.383°S 162.500°E / -78.383; 162.500), an Antarctic glacier named in her honor
• 1994 – Solomon Saddle (78°23′S 162°39′E / 78.383°S 162.650°E / -78.383; 162.650), a snow saddle at about 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) elevation, named in her honor
• 1991 – Henry G. Houghton Award, awarded by the American Meteorological Society^[14]

References