Two Colorado State Professors Named as Fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science

William K. Lauenroth and Graeme L. Stephens of Colorado State University have been named fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, the world’s largest scientific society.

Lauenroth was elected for his major contributions to the understanding of primary production in grasslands and for excellence in mentoring students. A professor in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship in the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State, he teaches undergraduate courses in rangeland ecogeography and ecosystem ecology and a graduate course in ecology of grasslands and shrublands.

His research interests include the plant community ecology and ecosystem ecology of grasslands and shrublands. His results are widely used by researchers and land managers. In addition to his membership in AAAS, Lauenroth also is a member of the Ecological Society of America, Sigma XI, and the Society for Range Management.

Stephens was elected an AAAS Fellow for his numerous contributions to research in atmospheric radiation and the use of remote sensing in climate studies and for scientific leadership and service to the atmospheric sciences and global change research communities. He is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Colorado State where he teaches graduate courses in atmospheric sciences.

Stephens’ research focuses on the atmospheric radiation and on the application of remote sensing in climate research, with emphasis on understanding the role of hydrological processes in climate change. He also recently researched the development of advanced inversion methods for extracting information from measurements as well as in developing novel techniques to examine the role of clouds in the Earth’s climate processes.

He is the principal investigator on CloudSat, a satellite radar he designed to look at the structure of clouds and how clouds contribute to climate change. NASA is scheduled to launch CloudSat in early November. Stephens is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and a Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere.

AAAS Fellows are nominated by other Fellows. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Feb. 18 in St. Louis, Mo.

In addition to serving as the world’s largest scientific society, the AAAS publishes the journal, "Science." AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals.

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