Julienne C. Stroeve

The 2020 Julia and Johannes Weertman Medal is awarded to Julienne C. Stroeve for her fundamental contributions to improved satellite observations of sea ice, better understanding of causes of sea ice variability and change, and her compelling communication to the wider public.

Julienne Stroeve is Professor and Senior Canada 150 Chair at the University of Manitoba and has been a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado for more than twenty years. She was professor of Polar Observation and Modelling at University College London from 2016 to 2019.

Stroeve has fundamentally contributed to better satellite observations of sea ice, to the understanding of sea ice variability and change and their causes, and to the evaluation of sea ice processes in global climate models. She used innovative methods to combine, exploit and analyse the vast remote sensing and climate model data sets becoming available in order to identify discrepancies and deficits in both, and to suggest ways forward. Her extremely highly-cited studies on climate model evaluation have challenged again and again our understanding of the usefulness of these simulations to capture the real evolution of Arctic sea ice and have fostered strong linkages between the sea-ice modelling community and the sea-ice remote-sensing community. This is to a large extent due to Stroeve’s genuine ability to see past the clutter of details and grasp the “big picture” of the Arctic climate system and the linkages between its different components.

Stroeve also has a truly impressive capability to build international networks of leading scientists and to broaden her horizon by establishing collaborations with scientists from well outside the realms of sea-ice research. Furthermore, she is an outstanding science communicator and sought-after speaker at major events as well as in schools. Her communication skills are exemplified by the title of her most-cited seminal work: “Arctic sea ice decline: faster than forecast”. She has been interviewed in globally read newspapers and featured in several videos and documentaries.

Stroeve has also served the scientific community in several influential ways, including as editor of the leading scientific journals Geophysical Research Letters and The Cryosphere. She has also had a major influence on the next generation of scientists, who look to her for guidance and inspiration. Julienne Stroeve is an extremely worthy recipient of the first Julia and Johannes Weertman Medal.