Jagadish Shukla

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Jagadish Shukla
NationalityIndian
AwardsPadma Shri Award (2012), Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal of the NASA
Scientific career
FieldsMeteorology
Doctoral advisorJule Gregory Charney[1]

Jagadish Shukla

Distinguished University Professor at George Mason University
in the United States.

Early years

Shukla was born in 1944 in the village of Middha in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, India. This village had no electricity, no roads or transportation, and no primary school building. Most of his primary school education was received under a large banyan tree. He passed from the S.R.S. High School, Sheopur, in the first class with distinction in Mathematics and Sanskrit. He studied science, firstly outside school, then at S.C. College, Ballia. At

MIT
in 1976.

Professional activities

Shukla is a

Distinguished University Professor at George Mason University
, USA, where he founded the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences and Climate Dynamics PhD Program.

During the 1970s, the "butterfly effect" or "chaos" was the dominant theme of predictability research, and the community was sceptical about the prospects for dynamical seasonal prediction. Shukla's research led to the notion of predictability in the midst of chaos, and the development of a scientific basis for the prediction of climate which derives from the influence of the slow variations of the atmosphere's lower boundary conditions and their interactions with the atmosphere. Recognizing the enormous scientific implications and potential benefits to society from accurate and reliable seasonal forecasts, Shukla took an extraordinary and risky decision to resign from his tenure professorship at the

University of Maryland
, and start a nonprofit institute, IGES, in his garage. Work by Shukla and his scientific colleagues has inspired routine dynamical seasonal prediction by numerous weather and climate centres around the world, helping society manage agricultural and economic activities, saving lives and property. Shukla also recognised the importance of land surface processes in climate variability and predictability and therefore established the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA). Recognition of the importance of atmosphere-land interactions in climate dynamics has led to numerous research programs, field experiments, and space-missions. Another important contribution made by Shukla was his proposal in the early 1980s to carry out retrospective analysis of atmospheric observations. COLA scientists conducted the first pilot reanalysis as proof of concept at a time when the community was sceptical about the feasibility of reanalysis. Reanalysis of past data and climate diagnostic studies are now an important component of climate research.

Shukla's scientific contributions include studies of: the dynamics of

University of Maryland, and George Mason University. He has contributed to over 250 scientific papers and book chapters as author or co-author. He was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize
with Vice-President Al Gore. He was appointed by the Governors of Virginia in 2008 and 2014 to their respective Climate Commissions.

Shukla has worked closely with scientists in

University of Hawaii. In collaboration with the Director of ICTP, and the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Shukla helped establish the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum which enables South Asian countries to meet before each monsoon season to discuss their monsoon forecasts. At the behest of the then Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh
, Shukla was appointed to be the Chairman of the International Advisory Panel to advance the weather and climate enterprise of India.

Shukla has been associated with the

Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment
(GEWEX), Continental-scale International Project (GCIP), the Atlantic Climate Change Program (ACCP), the Seasonal-to-Interannual Modeling and Analysis Project (SIMAP), the Austral-Asian Monsoon Working Group (AAMWG), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Joint Scientific Committee (JSC), the Coordinated Observation and Prediction of the Earth System (COPES) program, and the WCRP Modeling Panel (WMP). He was chairman of the 2008 World Modeling Summit for Climate Prediction, and he has been an advocate for creating multi-national climate modelling and prediction centres.

Shukla was the Founding President of the Institute of Global Environment and Society (IGES) and directed its Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), which aims to improve understanding of climate variability and predictability on intraseasonal to decadal time scales within a changing climate. In 2013 it was decided to dissolve IGES. In 2015, IGES/COLA staff were hired as GMU employees and COLA continues to thrive as a centre of excellence within GMU.

Shukla has also been involved with several organisations dedicated to social justice, poverty reduction, and rural development. He was a long-time member of the Board of Trustees of the Seghal Foundation, dedicated to rural development in India. He established Gandhi College in his village for education of rural students especially women.

Awards

RICO 20 Controversy

On 1 September 2015, Shukla was lead author of a letter from twenty climate scientists to President Obama, Attorney General

Lamar Smith (R–TX) in an announcement of plans to investigate Shukla's IGES.[6]
Subsequently, the Inspector General of the National Science Foundation completed the investigation of IGES in November 2017 and concluded that there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations, the investigation was closed, and no further action would be taken.

References

  1. ISBN 0-937194-40-9
    .
  2. ^ "Jagadish Shukla". Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA). Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  4. The Tribune
    . 5 April 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  5. ^ Letter to President Obama, Attorney General Lynch, and OSTP Director Holdren
  6. ^ Warren Cornwall (5 October 2015). "Climate scientist requesting federal investigation feels heat from House Republicans". Science Magazine. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
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