Claire Parkinson

Claire Lucille Parkinson is an American Earth scientist and climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Education

Parkinson has a B.A. in mathematics from Wellesley College, where she was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, and a Ph.D. in geography/climatology from Ohio State University.

Career

Parkinson is a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where she works with the Earth Observing System. Parkinson has developed a computer model of sea ice, and she has done field work in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
Her research emphasis has been on polar sea ice and its connections to the rest of the climate system and to climate change, with a particular emphasis on satellite remote sensing. This work has involved satellite data set generation and analysis, including the determination of decreases in Arctic sea ice coverage since the 1970s and examination of their regional and interannual variabilities and impacts, plus the quantification and analysis of the very different time series of sea ice changes in the Antarctic. Dr. Parkinson is the Project Scientist for the Aqua satellite mission, which launched in May 2002 and continues to transmit data on many atmospheric, ocean, land, and ice variables. The Aqua data have been used in thousands of research publications by scientists worldwide and in numerous practical applications, including weather forecasting and forest fire detection.

Outreach

Parkinson has done considerable outreach to children and the general public, serving as the sole science advisor to the photographic exhibit “Antarctica On Thin Ice” that opened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on December 17, 2007. She wrote books about history of science, and is active in promoting women in science.

Books

Selected publications

Honors and awards

1969 Election to Phi Beta Kappa, Wellesley College
1970 Election to Sigma Xi, Wellesley College
1970 Lewis Atterbury Stimson Award in Mathematics, Wellesley College
1976 Charles Clifford Huntington Award in Geography, Ohio State University
1979 Exceptional Performance Award, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
1982 NASA Group Achievement Award to the authors of Antarctic Sea Ice
1984 Peer Award for Best Paper, Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences, Goddard Space Flight Center
2000 Fellow, American Meteorological Society
2001 NASA Exceptional Service Medal
2003 Aviation Week & Space Technology Laurels Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Space
2003 NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal
2004 Richard P. Goldthwait Polar Medal
2006 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Space Systems Award
2008 NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal
2009 Election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering
2010 Election to the American Philosophical Society
2010 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2011 American Meteorological Society Remote Sensing Prize
2015 William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
2016 Election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
2016 Fellow, American Geophysical Union
2017 NASA Silver Achievement Medal, FEMA response volunteers
2018 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2020 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal
2020 Maryland Women's Hall of Fame
2020 Roger Revelle Medal