Published: June 20, 2019

Congratulations to professor Xinzhao Chu for being selected to give the 2019 CEDAR Prize Lecture. Chu received the honor for her scientific contributions to understanding coupling from the stratosphere to the mesosphere and lower thermosphere resulting from Lidar development and observations at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

CEDAR, the Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions program, is a National Science Foundation initiative that provides funding to engineers and scientists investigating the make-up and behavior of the middle and upper atmosphere, which extends 6,000 miles above Earth’s surface.

This region where the tenuous atmosphere links to space is also home to orbiting military, communications and research satellites. Even the low concentrations of atmospheric gases can be significantly impacted by radiation and storms from the sun.

Previous CEDAR Prize Lecture honorees from Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences include research professor Delores Knipp in 2017 and professor Jeff Forbes in 2014.

The 2019 CEDAR Summer Workshop is being held June 16-21 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Xinzhao Chu