Inez Fung facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Inez Fung
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Born | April 11, 1949 |
| Education | Utica College Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS, ScD) |
Inez Fung (Chinese: 馮又嫦) is a famous scientist who studies Earth's atmosphere. She was born on April 11, 1949. She is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she teaches about Earth and environmental science. She also helps lead the Berkeley Institute of the Environment.
Inez Fung is a member of important science groups like the National Academy of Sciences. She is also a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society. Since 2021, she has been part of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). This group gives advice to the President of the United States about science and technology.
Early Life and Education
Inez Fung grew up in Hong Kong, which was a British colony at the time. She spoke Chinese at home and learned English at school. Her parents believed that education was very important for their four children.
After graduating from King's College in Hong Kong in 1967, her family moved to North America. This was because of the riots happening in Hong Kong that year. Inez Fung came to the United States and started college at Utica College in New York.
She later transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1971, she earned her first degree in applied mathematics. She continued her studies at MIT and earned her doctorate degree in 1977. Her doctoral research was about "how spiral rainbands form in a hurricane." She even won an award for her excellent research paper. Inez Fung was the second woman to earn a doctorate in Meteorology from MIT.
Career and Climate Research
After finishing her studies, Inez Fung worked as a researcher at the National Academy of Sciences. Later, she joined the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. She also worked as a scientist for NASA at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
In 1998, Inez Fung joined the University of California, Berkeley. Since then, she has done a lot of important work on climate modeling. This means she uses computers to understand how Earth's climate works. She also studies biogeochemical cycles, which are how elements like carbon move through Earth's systems. Her work helps us understand climate change.
Inez Fung has contributed to major reports on climate change. These reports are created by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC is a group of scientists from around the world who study climate change.
In 2006, she joined other climate scientists to support a legal case. This case was about whether the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should control carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide is a gas that contributes to climate change.
Personal Life
Inez Fung lives in Berkeley, California. She is married to Jim Bishop, who is also a professor at the University of California-Berkeley. He is an oceanographer, meaning he studies the oceans.
Honors and Recognition
Inez Fung has received many awards and honors for her important work:
- 2019: Foreign Member of the Royal Society
- 2019: Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society (AMS)
- 2010: Member of the Academia Sinica
- 2007: National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model Distinguished Achievement Award
- 2005: Scientific American 50 award
- 2004: Roger Revelle Medal, American Geophysical Union
- 2002: Henry W. Kendall Memorial lecturer in Global Change Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 1997–2002: NASA Goddard Senior Fellow
- 1991: NOAA Distinguished Authorship Award
- 1990–1997: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Most Valuable Paper Award
- 1989: NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
- 1987–1993: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Peer Award
- 1977: C.G. Rossby Award for the outstanding thesis of the year, Department of Meteorology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
