Cecilia Bitz
{{short description|American climatologist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Cecilia M. Bitz
| birth_date = March 4, 1966
| alma_mater = Oregon State University (BA)
University of Washington (PhD)
| occupation = Professor at the University of Washington
| awards = American Geophysical Union Fellow
American Meteorological Society Fellow
Rosenstiel Award in Atmospheric Science and Oceanography
}}
Cecilia M. Bitz is an American climatologist known for her research on sea ice and high-latitude climate change. She is a professor and chair in the Atmospheric Sciences Department, as well as the director of the Program on Climate Change at the University of Washington.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washington.edu/news/people/cecilia-bitz/|title=Cecilia Bitz|work=UW News|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en}} She was featured on NPR's All Things Considered segment to speak about factors that lead to sea ice loss in 2007,{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18159638|title=Mix of Factors Led to Record Arctic Ice Melt in 2007|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en}} and testified before the United States Senate committee of Energy and Natural Resources on arctic opportunities in 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/03/05/on-snowy-d-c-day-senate-hearing-on-the-arctic-turns-to-climate-change/?noredirect=on|title=On snowy D.C. day, Senate hearing on the Arctic turns to climate change|last=DeBonis|first=Mike|date=March 5, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=November 11, 2018}}
Early life and education
Cecilia Bitz was born in Portland, Oregon on March 4, 1966.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} While she initially had an interest in physics, she discovered her passion for sea ice after reading a book on climate change, "Our Changing Atmosphere," by John Firor.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} In 1988, she received her bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics from Oregon State University, and her master's degree in Physics from the University of Washington in 1990.{{Cite web|title=Bitz CV|url=https://atmos.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/vitae_Bitz.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127164631/https://atmos.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/vitae_Bitz.pdf |archive-date=2021-01-27 }} She completed her doctoral work in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington in 1997,{{Cite web|url=https://www.womensmediacenter.com/shesource/expert/cecilia-m.-bitz|title=Cecilia M. Bitz - SheSource Expert - Women's Media Center|website=womensmediacenter.com|language=en|access-date=2018-11-12}} where she worked with David S. Battisti to complete her dissertation on Natural Variability in the Arctic Climate using climate models.{{Cite thesis|last=M|first=Bitz, Cecilia|date=1997|title=A model study of natural variability in the Arctic climate|pages=4107|url=https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/10076|language=en-US|bibcode=1997PhDT........91B}}
Career and research
Since receiving her PhD, Cecilia Bitz has conducted research on sea ice mostly through climate modeling and has contributed to over 100 refereed publications. She began teaching at the University of Washington in 2005, where she still teaches in the Atmospheric Sciences Department today.
In 2013–14, she was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to New Zealand. In 2006, she co-published research that predicted abrupt and massive ice loss in the Arctic in the summer of 2007. She has introduced new methods for modeling sea ice{{Cite journal|last1=Bitz|first1=C. M.|last2=Roe|first2=G. H.|date=2004-09-15|title=A Mechanism for the High Rate of Sea Ice Thinning in the Arctic Ocean|url=https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/17/18/1520-0442_2004_017_3623_amfthr_2.0.co_2.xml|journal=Journal of Climate|language=EN|volume=17|issue=18|pages=3623–3632|doi=10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<3623:AMFTHR>2.0.CO;2|bibcode=2004JCli...17.3623B |s2cid=1980186 |issn=0894-8755|citeseerx=10.1.1.488.5335}} as well as explained why Arctic sea ice thins rapidly with greenhouse warming.{{Cite journal|last1=Bitz|first1=C. M.|last2=Lipscomb|first2=William H.|date=1999|title=An energy-conserving thermodynamic model of sea ice|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans|language=en|volume=104|issue=C7|pages=15669–15677|doi=10.1029/1999JC900100|bibcode=1999JGR...10415669B |issn=2156-2202|doi-access=free}} She currently co-leads the Sea Ice Prediction Network, which forecasts Arctic sea ice for shipping, military, and Arctic indigenous peoples.{{Cite news|url=https://www.arcus.org/sipn|title=Sea Ice Prediction Network|work=ARCUS|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en}}
Awards and honors
- American Geophysical Union Fellow - 2018{{Cite news|url=https://news.agu.org/press-release/american-geophysical-union-announces-2018-fellows/|title=American Geophysical Union Announces 2018 Fellows - AGU Newsroom|work=AGU Newsroom|access-date=2018-11-12|language=en-US}}
- American Meteorological Society Fellow - 2015{{Cite web|url=https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/|title=Home|website=American Meteorological Society|language=en|access-date=2018-11-12}}
- American Geophysical Union Ascent Award in Atmospheric Science - 2013{{Cite web|url=http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/visitors/cgd-named-visitorships/cecilia-bitz.html|title=CGD Named Visitorships: Cecilia Bitz|website=cgd.ucar.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-11-12|archive-date=2018-12-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226235948/http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/visitors/cgd-named-visitorships/cecilia-bitz.html|url-status=dead}}
- Fulbright Scholar Award to New Zealand - 2013
- Rosenstiel Award in Atmospheric Science and Oceanography - 2013
Publications
{{Scholia}}
Cecilia Bitz has contributed to over 100 refereed publications. Some of her most influential works include:
- {{Cite journal|last1=Holland|first1=Marika M.|author-link1=Marika Holland|last2=Bitz|first2=Cecilia M.|last3=Tremblay|first3=Bruno|date=2006-12-12|title=Future abrupt reductions in the summer Arctic sea ice|url=http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=137358&custom_att_2=direct|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|language=en|volume=33|issue=23|pages=L23503|bibcode=2006GeoRL..3323503H|citeseerx=10.1.1.650.1778|doi=10.1029/2006gl028024|s2cid=14187034 |issn=0094-8276}}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Bitz |first1=C. M. |last2=Gent |first2=P. R. |last3=Woodgate |first3=R. A. |last4=Holland |first4=M. M. |author-link4=Marika Holland |last5=Lindsay |first5=R. |date=2006 |title=The Influence of Sea Ice on Ocean Heat Uptake in Response to Increasing CO2 |journal=Journal of Climate |language=en |volume=19 |issue=11 |pages=2437–2450 |doi=10.1175/jcli3756.1 |issn=0894-8755 |citeseerx=10.1.1.588.6504 |bibcode=2006JCli...19.2437B |s2cid=15251569 }}
- {{Cite journal|title=A Mechanism for the High Rate of Sea-Ice Thinning in the Arctic Ocean|journal=Journal of Climate|volume=17|issue=18|pages=3622–3631|first1=C. M.|last1=Bitz|first2=G. H.|last2=Roe|doi=10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<3623:amfthr>2.0.co;2|year=2004|citeseerx=10.1.1.488.5335|bibcode=2004JCli...17.3623B|s2cid=1980186 }}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Holland|first1=M. M.|author-link=Marika Holland|last2=Bitz|first2=C. M.|date=2003-09-01|title=Polar amplification of climate change in coupled models|journal=Climate Dynamics |language=en |volume=21 |issue=3–4 |pages=221–232 |doi=10.1007/s00382-003-0332-6 |issn=0930-7575 |bibcode=2003ClDy...21..221H |s2cid=17003665 }}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=William D. |last2=Bitz |first2=Cecilia M. |last3=Blackmon|first3=Maurice L. |last4=Bonan |first4=Gordon B. |last5=Bretherton |first5=Christopher S. |last6=Carton |first6=James A. |last7=Chang |first7=Ping |last8=Doney |first8=Scott C. |author-link8=Scott Doney |last9=Hack |first9=James J. |date=2006 |title=The Community Climate System Model Version 3 (CCSM3) |journal=Journal of Climate |volume=19 |issue=11 |pages=2122–2143 |doi=10.1175/jcli3761.1 |hdl=1912/4176 |bibcode=2006JCli...19.2122C |s2cid=15157242 |hdl-access=free}}
References
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Category:Scientists from Portland, Oregon
Category:Oregon State University alumni
Category:American women scientists
Category:Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change contributing authors