User:Clelland4/sandbox-Susan K. Avery

Susan K. Avery
Susan Avery is the president and director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), she officially took office on 4th February 2008. Avery is not only the first atmospheric scientist but also the first female scientist to take the position of director in the WHOI's history.

Avery is an atmospheric physicist with extensive experience as a leader within scientific institutions. She comes to WHOI from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she was interim dean of the graduate school and vice chancellor for research. She previously served as director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a 550-member collaborative institute between UCB and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Academic Career
Avery began her undergraduate study in physics at Michigan State University, focusing on the physics of the natural world. She specialised in how atmospheric waves propagate in the stratosphere, earning her doctorate in atmospheric science from the University of Illinois in 1978.

Avery secured her first faculty position in the University of Illinois' electrical-engineering department. Research into atmospheric science is often conducted in electrical-engineering departments, as the ionosphere, controls how radiowaves move through the atmosphere.

This post enabled Avery to embark on her own research, supported by two fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the CIRES. She quickly built collaborations at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and NOAA, moving to the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1982.

Avery developed new radar technology that allowed the first measurements of wind in the upper atmosphere of remote equatorial regions, leading to years of collaborations in the tropics and the academic rank of professor of electrical and computer engineering.

After earning tenure, she reluctantly accepted a position as associate dean of research and graduate education. Becoming the director of CIRES, where she spent a decade creating interdisciplinary programmes. As director of CIRES, Avery worked with NOAA and the Climate Change Science Program to help formulate a national strategic science plan for climate research. Then she sought a change, and found it at the Woods Hole in Massachusetts.

In 2013 Avery was named to the United Nations’ newly created scientific advisory board. She is one of 26 scientists eminent scientists, representing natural, social and human sciences and engineering, to be appointed. The purpose of this new Board is to the provide the UN Secretary-General and Executive Heads of UN organizations with advice on science, technology and innovation (STI) for sustainable development.

Research interests
Avery’s research interests include studies of atmospheric circulation and precipitation, climate variability and water resources, and the development of new radar techniques and instruments for remote sensing . She has participated in field expeditions in Greenland, Antarctica, and Australia, and she has a keen interest in scientific literacy and the role of science in public policy.