Graeme Stephens facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Graeme Stephens
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Graeme Stephens in 2021
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| Born |
Graeme Leslie Stephens
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| Alma mater | University of Melbourne (BS, PhD) |
| Known for | CloudSat |
| Awards | Jule G. Charney Award (2005) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Atmospheric sciences |
| Institutions | Caltech Colorado State University University of Reading University of Melbourne |
| Thesis | The transfer of radiation in cloudy atmospheres (1977) |
Graeme Leslie Stephens is a very important scientist. He works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. He is the director of the center for climate sciences there. This means he helps lead studies about Earth's climate. He is also a professor at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.
Graeme Stephens' Education
Graeme Stephens went to the University of Melbourne in Australia. He studied physics and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973. Later, in 1977, he received his PhD in meteorology. Meteorology is the study of the Earth's atmosphere, especially about weather and climate.
What Graeme Stephens Studies
Graeme Stephens is a leader in studying Earth's climate. His work helps us understand how our planet works. He focuses on three main areas:
- Atmospheric radiation: This is about how energy from the sun moves through Earth's atmosphere. It also covers how heat leaves the Earth.
- Earth observations and remote sensing: This involves using satellites and other tools to gather information about Earth from far away. It's like taking pictures and measurements from space.
- Clouds and Earth's energy: He studies how clouds affect the Earth's temperature and energy balance. Clouds play a big role in how much heat stays on Earth or escapes into space.
Professor Stephens has been a pioneer in using information from satellites to study climate change. He helped create and lead a special satellite mission called CloudSat. This mission lasted for ten years! CloudSat helped scientists learn new things about Earth's clouds and rain. This information is very important for understanding our climate.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Graeme Stephens has received many important awards for his work. These awards show how much his research has helped us understand Earth's climate.
- In 2015, he became a member of the National Academy of Engineering in the United States. This is a very high honor.
- He received the Jule G. Charney Award from the American Meteorological Society. This award was for his amazing work in understanding how radiation (energy) moves through the atmosphere and affects climate.
- He also won the Gold Medal of the International Radiation Commission. This recognized his top contributions to the study of radiation.
- NASA also gave him an Exceptional Public Service Medal.
- In 2025, he received the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, another top award from the American Meteorological Society.
In 2018, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very old and respected group of scientists in the United Kingdom.
