Dr. Anne Mee Thompson, Senior Scientist for Atmospheric Chemistry and Goddard Senior Fellow, NASA/GSFC, spoke with The National Herald about her life, work, and Greek heritage. A member of NASA/Goddard’s Laboratory for Atmospheres for 20 years, she was a Professor of Meteorology at Penn State University for 8 years before re-joining NASA in mid-2013. Dr. Thompson’s studies in the 1980s and early 1990s were among the first to link chemical changes (methane, ozone increases) and climate forcings. Since 1990, Thompson has focused on tropospheric chemistry with satellite data and analyses of aircraft, ship and ground-based experiments. She is Principal Investigator for the award-winning SHADOZ (Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes) network (1998-). Thompson’s field work covers polluted and remote atmospheres with extensive international collaboration. Her 250-plus publications include contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and United Nations Environment Program/World Meteorological Organization (UNEP/WMO) Ozone Assessments and books on marine atmospheres, snow chemistry, methane and ozone depletion. Thompson’s awards include the Nordberg Medal of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), a Fulbright Scholar Award, the Suomi Award of the American Meteorological Society, and the American Geophysical Union’s Roger Revelle Medal. In 2014, Dr. Thompson was named a Goddard Senior Fellow and in 2015, she was promoted to Senior Scientist in Goddard’s Earth Sciences Division. She won the William Nordberg Award in 2018, the highest recognition for a Goddard Earth Scientist.
When asked if she was always interested in pursuing science as her chosen field, Dr. Thompson told TNH, “Yes and no… I grew up in a family with “science” all around. Both parents studied chemistry and they met in an industrial chemical lab. My father retained a keen interest in all things scientific into his 90s. My uncle, George Veronis, is a legend in fluid dynamics and oceanography. When I was little we would visit him in Princeton at the Institute for Advanced Study when Einstein was still active. When George moved to MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic, I often heard the names Stommel, Charney, and the first American female meteorologist Joanne Simpson (1923-2010) with whom I later collaborated at NASA.
“However, I went to college as a pre-med. I quickly switched to chemistry as more quantitative and more interesting. That turned out okay for my parents. My brother, Peter, became a trauma surgeon so they got the ‘real doctor.’ Through post-docs, I became a ‘geoscientist,’ doing both oceanographic and atmospheric research, then joining NASA in 1986. Then they could say ‘we have a rocket scientist too.’”
About what it is like working at NASA, Dr. Thompson said, “[It’s] very exciting for two reasons. First, we have amazing data to look at from satellites and other instruments. We make discoveries about planets and the sun every day, as many people know from the media. I work on our home Planet Earth (earthobservatory.nasa.gov). We have more than 24 earth-observing satellites operating today, from the USA Agencies NASA and NOAA, as well as from many other nations. They measure properties like clouds, ice, sea level, vegetation, fires, and pollutant concentrations. We can detect hazards and extreme events like volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, pollution plumes as well as natural variations. The goal is to understand interactions within whole earth system. Incidentally, all our data are shared and open to the public.
“Second, we may have the world’s most dedicated and enthusiastic scientists and engineers working at NASA. Putting satellites and rockets together is very challenging. Many of the major satellites are years in the making – lots of patience and dedication are required. Designing instruments to work in rough space and earth conditions can also mean years of quality assurance testing. Some scientists are tasked with developing the algorithms that turn signals and spectra into meaningful quantities. Still others build computer models that take in data to understand the complicated physical and chemical processes we are looking at. It all fits together so we work as teams. One reason I took a break from NASA and spent 8 years as a Penn State professor was to get young people interested in our science and in working at NASA. It’s cool, it’s fun, and working on understanding and protecting the Earth’s environment is very rewarding. And, we have astronauts of many nations on our International Space Station! It doesn’t get more exciting than that.”
The hole in the ozone layer made headlines in the 1980s and in January of this year an article in Newsweek described the shrinking hole as a “success story.” When asked about what her research tells us about the ozone levels today, Dr. Thompson told TNH, “The ‘saving of the ozone layer’ is due to a remarkable treaty, the so-called ‘Montreal Protocol’ to gradually reduce and eliminate ozone-depleting substances. The Montreal Protocol was ratified in the late 1980s by more than 190 nations. We have stopped manufacturing some of the halogen-containing substances that catalytically chew up the ozone layer, most notably over Antarctica, and we are on a schedule to gradually get rid of many more. (Bonus! – many of the ozone-killing gases also warm the climate, so we are actually taking steps to protect climate). We measure the decrease in the ozone threatening chemicals at the ground and with satellites. With our computer models we predict that most of the world’s ozone layer will return to 1980s levels by 2070; the ozone ‘hole’ over Antarctica will be healed 15-20 years later. This ‘planet-saving’ work is one reason we keep launching ozone satellites.”
Of her current work, she said, “My own research has covered several facets of atmospheric sciences. At NASA I started out running computer models that connected increasing air pollution to climate change and feedbacks between the two. In the early 1990s, I switched to measurements work, using data from satellites, aircraft and even ships to studying global pollution. I have participated in many aircraft missions which means we fly a jetliner filled with one-of-a-kind instruments to measure all the chemicals related to pollution. My NASA highlight was being the Chief Scientist on one of those experiments, telling the pilot how to fly into the areas we needed to sample.
“For the past 20 years, I have concentrated on what we call ‘validation,’ an important part of NASA’s Earth mission – making sure that what we measure from space is accurate. I coordinate a network of ground-truth stations throughout the tropics where weather balloons carrying small ozone-measuring instruments are launched every week. We compare our data to the satellites. Since my project began we have improved the accuracy of our data by a factor of three. This is an important achievement because the delicate layer that is about 50,000 feet above the earth, the so-called ‘tropopause layer’ is where small changes in temperature, the amount of ozone, and the wind motions (technically ‘dynamics,’ a good Greek word) are in a complex balance that is important for climate. We find that natural processes cause the ozone to change month-to-month. However, there is also evidence that some of the ozone in the tropical lower stratosphere is disappearing at the same time our policy actions are ‘healing’ ozone in the upper stratosphere. The message here – we have to keep monitoring all these chemicals, on the ground and with our ozone balloons and with satellite ‘eyes in the skies.’ Details matter!”
Dr. Thompson shared advice for young scientists interested in pursuing similar research. She said, “Get solid training in the physical sciences or engineering. It can be hard work and not always fun, but it pays off. Get into the best lab or group for internships and real-life research opportunities. There are more of those opportunities now than when I was in college. I did a very peripatetic post-doc, in three labs, coast-to-coast, before landing at NASA, working with outstanding scientists and learning important things in each group. Stick with your goal, but try new things and take risks if something doesn’t work out. There is a lot of talk about ‘find your passion’ which I have been blessed to do. However, that happened after years of just plain persistence, hard work, ups and downs. All my colleagues who work with interns and give career talks have similar messages.”
About her family background, Dr. Thompson said, “I am half-Greek. Thompson is my father’s name. On my mother’s side (she and three of her brothers, all New Jersey natives, are still with us!), both grandparents came from villages in western Crete near Chania. They immigrated in the 1920s. The original family name was ‘Vreonakis’ which got turned into the more pronounceable ‘Veronis’ by my mother’s school teachers. My Papou never got over that.”
When asked if her Greek heritage informs her work, she told TNH, “Definitely yes. First of all, my mother’s family of typical second-generation Greek-American achievers have been big influences all my life. Several years ago, when I was inducted into the Academy of Athens as a Corresponding Member, I showed photos of my uncles and said that all of them were probably better known in Greece than I. Besides George, the scientist, my godfather, Father Alexander Veronis, is known throughout the Orthodox world for missionary work. He has been a loving spiritual influence from day one. Uncle John, a New York businessman, started out in advertising and media, along with my late Uncle Peter. Both were innovators; John’s clever visions and new ventures taught me to always try new ideas and keep moving.
“My mother has had the same energy and originality as my uncles, pioneering, active, generous, and accomplished in many areas. Intellectually gifted, she taught her children to use their talents to serve others. Mom is quick to credit my father, a Utah Mormon with a Harvard PhD, no less, for having similar qualities and a strong sense of family. My dad blended right into the Veronis family and had my uncles’ awe and affection his whole life.
“There are many Greek-Americans in science and other creative endeavors. Our ancient roots in philosophy and science with the mariner spirit and love of independence seem to inspire. We have been fortunate to take advantage of opportunities in this country – and to give back. Today, young people have the whole connected world to explore and work in. Those with diverse backgrounds and language skills will succeed and write new chapters in science, technology, and other areas,” Dr. Thompson concluded.
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