Cheng Lijing, professor of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was recognized with the Fofonoff Early Career Award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) “for high quality, impactful research on ocean observations and application to ocean heat content, and for service to the community”. The award will be presented in January 2023, in conjunction with the society’s 103rd annual meeting in Denver, Colorado.

Established in 2007, the Nicholas P. Fofonoff Award is given to an individual in recognition of their research achievement in the field of physical oceanography. All aspects of physical oceanography are eligible, including instrument development as well as observational, theoretical, and modeling studies. It’s the first time the Nicholas P. Fofonoff Award has been presented to a Chinese scientist.

“I appreciate the committee and AMS for the positive evaluation of my work, and for recognition of early career research from China. I also thank the nominators for supporting me,” said Cheng. He was guided and inspired by works from many pioneers in his community including N. Fofonoff, and is thus truly honored to receive an award named for him, he said.

“This award is a big encouragement for me to continue exploring the ocean and addressing the challenges we face under climate change,” said Cheng.

Cheng received his Ph.D from CAS’s IAP in 2014. His research focuses on monitoring the ocean changes and understanding the associated mechanisms, including ocean heat content, ocean salinity and stratification changes. His dataset, CAS’s IAP Ocean observational gridded product, has been widely used and well recognized in past years.

He has published more than 60 papers, with more than 35 first/corresponding author papers to his credit. Total citations of his work number >5000 (Google scholar). His research has been adopted by more than 20 international reports organized by IPCC, WMO among others, and has been selected among the “Top 10 advances in science and technology in Chinese Society for Oceanography and Limnology” three times. Cheng was awarded the “International Data Prize” by WCRP/GCOS, and the “Xie Yibing Young Meteorologist Award” in 2020. He has been selected as a Lead Author for IPCC Special Reports on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate within 2017-2019, and Lead Author of the 2nd United Nations World Ocean Assessment within 2016-2020.

Source: Institute of Atmospheric Physics,

Chinese Academy of Sciences