The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) presented SoMAS professor Marivn Geller with the prestigious International Cooperation Medal during the 37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly held in Montreal, Canada on July 13-20. The medal is awarded to a scientist who thas made distinguished contributions to space and Earth science and whose work has contributed significantly to the promotion of the international scientific cooperation.
“I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world,” says Dr. Geller, “Collaborating with international colleges has been kind of a theme of my career.”
Geller has worked on international collaborations over 30 years and is the father of the Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate program (SPARC), an international collaboration that is a core element of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) designed to address important scientific problems in stratospheric research. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) both utilized SPARC scientific assessments created under Geller’s Leadership that addressed the coupling between the Earth’s lower atmosphere, upper atmosphere, and solar radiation.
Geller also served two terms as President of the Solar Terrestrial Energy Program of the Scientific Committee for Solar-Terrestrial Physics, an of the International Council for Sciences (ICSU), and he lead the development of the Climate and Weather in the Sun-Earth System (CAWSES) program, which involves scientists in both developed and developing countries in coordinating international activities in observations, modeling, and applications crucial to achieving better understanding of the space environment and its impacts on life and society.
Geller also helped to initiate cooperative international satellite programs such as the The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall.
“Early on in my career I appreciated that you can’t do a lot of atmospheric science without a global view.” says Geller, “International collaborations can bring additional resources to colleagues in different countries and global efforts enable more science to be carried out.”
One of the things Geller most enjoys about international collaboration is the personal friendships that are created, he explains, “I can go to almost any country and not just have colleagues, but have friends.”
When presenting the award, COSPAR praised Geller’s “deep understanding of scientific issues, his inclusiveness of others, his ability to attract the world’s foremost experts to volunteer their time, and his sensitivity to cultural issues.”
In his acceptance speech, Geller called on his junior colleges to continue pursuing international scientific collaboration. “In these stressful days, I hope that young scientists see the great value in their involvement in international cooperation,” he said.
