World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General-elect, Prof. Celeste Saulo, has been named an Honorary Member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) - a prestigious award which recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations in the weather, water, and climate community.
AMS Honorary Members are "persons of acknowledged preeminence in the atmospheric or related oceanic or hydrologic sciences, either through their own contributions to the sciences or their application or through furtherance of the advance of those sciences in some other way."
Prof. Saulo, who has been Director of the National Meteorological Service of Argentina since 2014, assumes office as WMO Secretary-General on 1 January 2024. She was appointed by the World Meteorological Congress in June 2023. She will be the first female Secretary-General of WMO and succeeds Prof. Petteri Taalas (Finland).
"This award fills me with pride and satisfaction," said Prof. Saulo. "The AMS is one of the oldest scientific organizations, with the highest reputation and recognition in the world. I have nothing but words of gratitude and I want to share it with everyone who allowed me to make this career, " she said.
"My professional career is not only my own merit, but a collective work. Thanks to the scientific system that has given me support and opportunities; to my family that has accompanied me; to the university and academic sector; to the CONICET (The Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas/National Council for Scientific and Technical Investigation), the Argentinean National Meteorological Service SMN and WMO. It is a recognition for all that great family that embraces science for the provision of services," said said Prof. Saulo.
Prof. Saulo will receive her award at the 104th AMS Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, 28 January-1 February, 2024.
Prof. Saulo pursued a career in academia before becoming head of the National Meteorological Service of Argentina. She was elected in June 2015 as a member of the WMO Executive Council. In April 2018, she was elected as Second Vice-president for WMO and, in June 2019, she was elected First Vice-President, becoming the first woman to hold the office.
She has also been a member of WMO expert scientific panels. Until 2018, she was a member of the Scientific Steering Committee for the World Weather Research Program (WWRP). She has also been a member of the Working Group on Seasonal to Interannual Prediction and of the WCRP/CLIVAR Panel for the Variability of the American Monsoon Systems.
Her research has been key for better understanding the South American Monsoon System, and the associated patterns of precipitation and circulation during the warm season. In the last few years, she deepened her activity on interdisciplinary problems such as wind energy production, agricultural applications, and early warning systems.
Her vast teaching experience has been mainly related with numerical weather prediction, atmosphere dynamics and thermodynamics, mesoscale meteorology, cloud dynamics and cloud microphysics.
"Working across a wide range of sciences and services, the members of our community are vital to upholding safety and quality of life in the United States and across the world," says AMS Executive Director Stella Kafka. "AMS is dedicated to celebrating their excellence. AMS Awards and Honors are one way that we bring attention and acclaim to some of the standouts across our field and recognize the hard work that paves the way for their remarkable achievements. We thank our members and friends for nominating their colleagues and peers for these awards."
