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SOARS protégés honored |
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Two SOARS protégés have won awards for their presentations at the 2001 national conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
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| Pauline Datulayta. (Photo by Carlye Calvin.) |
Pauline Datulayta, a junior at the City University of New York's Queens College, won recognition for the outstanding graduate oral presentation in Geo Science/
Atmospheric Science and a $2,500 cash award. Her talk focused on the relationship between pollution distribution and atmospheric turbulence in the planetary boundary layer.
At NCAR last summer, Pauline developed a computer animation of a particle trajectory from a numerically generated turbulent flow field in the boundary layer. She created a conceptual smokestack to trace the pattern of pollution dispersion in highly convective turbulence (which generates a looping type of dispersion) and wind shear–driven turbulence (which results in plumes that linger at the chimney height). By providing scientists with a quick glimpse of the dispersion, the model may stimulate new research directions.
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| Theresa Jo Johnson. (Photo by Carlye Calvin.) |
Theresa Jo Johnson, an alumna of California's Humboldt State University, won the prize for outstanding poster presentation in Geo Science/Atmospheric Science and a $250 cash award. She researches the vertical distribution of ozone over the Amazon rain forest by analyzing ozone profiles from a tethered balloon platform.
Theresa's work revealed a maximum ozone deposition gradient of 5.4 parts per billion at 100 meters (328 feet) above the forest and a negligible gradient above a nearby reservoir. Such estimates have large-scale implications for society because the destruction of a portion of the forest to create a reservoir or to plant crops would impair natural processes that remove ozone and other toxic compounds from the air.
"This recognition by the society is a tribute to Pauline and Theresa," says Tom Windham, SOARS program director. "And it's also a tribute to their mentors, teachers, and fellow SOARS protégés."
An additional 11 protégés gave invited presentations at the meeting.
• David Hosansky
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Edited by David Hosansky,
hosansky@ucar.edu
Prepared for the Web by Jacque Marshall
Last revised: Thu Dec 20 16:57:22 MST 2001