Commentary: African American Scientists and Inventors
by Black Kos Editor, Sephius1
Warren Washington is an internationally recognized expert on atmospheric science and climate research. He specializes in computer modeling of Earth's climate. Currently, he is a senior scientist and Chief Scientist of the DOE/UCAR Cooperative Agreement at NCAR in the Climate Change Research Section in the center’s Climate and Global Dynamics Division. Over the years, Washington has published almost 200 papers in professional journals, garnered dozens of national and international awards, and served as a science advisor to former presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.
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Washington was born and grew up in Portland, Oregon. He became interested in science in grade school, going on to earn a bachelor's degree in physics and master's degree in meteorology from Oregon State University. His next step was to Pennsylvania State University for a doctorate in meteorology. In 1963, he joined NCAR as a research scientist.
Climate Modeling
Washington became one of the first developers of groundbreaking atmospheric computer models in collaboration with Akira Kasahara when he came to NCAR in the early 1960s. These models, which use fundamental laws of physics to predict future states of the atmosphere, have helped scientists understand climate change. As his research developed, Washington worked to incorporate the oceans and sea ice into climate models. Such models now include components that depict surface hydrology and vegetation as well as the atmosphere, oceans, and sea ice.
An Introduction to Three-Dimensional Climate Modeling, written by Washington and Claire Parkinson in 1986 and updated in 2005, is a standard reference in the field.
Washington's past research involved using the Parallel Climate Model (PCM). His current research involves using the Community Climate System Model (CESM) to study the impacts of climate change in the 21st century. Both models were used extensively in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment, for which NCAR scientists, including Washington, and colleagues around the world shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Diversity efforts
As the second African-American to earn a doctorate in the atmospheric sciences, Washington has served as a role model for generations of young researchers from many backgrounds. He has mentored dozens of graduate students, as well as undergraduates in the UCAR-based SOARS program (Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science). In 1999, Washington won the Dr. Charles Anderson Award from the American Meteorological Society "for pioneering efforts as a mentor and passionate support of individuals, educational programs, and outreach initiatives designed to foster a diverse population of atmospheric scientists."
Timeline of Service, Activities, Honors and Awards
From 1978 to 1984, Washington served on the President's National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. He participated on several National Research Council panels and chaired the council’s advisory panel for Climate Puzzle, a film produced for the 1986 PBS television series Planet Earth.
Washington was a member of the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board from 1990 to 1993 and has been on the Secretary of Energy's Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC) since 1990. From 1996 - 2006, he served as the chair of the subcommittee on Global change for BERAC.
Washington held the office of President of the American Meteorological Society in 1994 and was Past President in 1995.
He served on the Modernization Transition Committee and the National Centers for Environment Prediction Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Weather Service. In 1998, he was appointed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency Science Advisory Board, until 2002.
In May of 1995, he was appointed by President Clinton to a six-year term on the National Science Board, which helps oversee the National Science Foundation and advises the Executive Branch and Congress on science related matters. In March 2000 he was nominated by President Clinton for a second six-year term and was confirmed by the Senate in September 2000. In May 2002, The National Science Board (NSB) in Washington, D.C., elected Washington as its new Chair. He was re-elected to a second term in May of 2004. The National Science Board has dual responsibilities as national science policy adviser to the president and Congress and as governing board for the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency.......Read More
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News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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A recent study of women convicted of crimes shows that dark-complexioned blacks serve more time in jail. The Root: The Lighter the Skin, the Shorter the Prison Term?
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Colin Powell said it, Sen. Harry Reid hinted at it about President Barack Obama and black folks have known it for hundreds of years. There are advantages to being a light-skinned black person in the United States.
Research on those advantages isn't new, but with the release of a recent study by Villanova University, the breadth of quantitative studies that examine colorism, or discrimination based on skin tone, continues to increase. From housing opportunities to employment chances to which women have a good shot at getting married, the lighter-is-better dynamic is at play, research shows.
Villanova researchers studied more than 12,000 cases of African-American women imprisoned in North Carolina and found that women with lighter skin tones received more-lenient sentences and served less time than women with darker skin tones.
The researchers found that light-skinned women were sentenced to approximately 12 percent less time behind bars than their darker-skinned counterparts. Women with light skin also served 11 percent less time than darker women.
The study took into account the type of crimes the women committed and each woman's criminal history to generate apples-to-apples comparisons. The work builds on previous studies by Stanford University, the University of Colorado at Boulder and other institutions, which have examined how "black-looking" features and skin tone can impact black men in the criminal-justice arena.
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The officers who heard the comments were deployed "in the most popular tourist spots -- the French Quarter, hotel areas like the Central Business District and Downtown Development District." Those areas were packed with Essence Festival attendees all weekend. Nola.com New Orleans police commander reassigned after alleged instructions to target young black men
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As one of the nation's premier festivals celebrating African-American culture got under way Friday, the commander of an elite New Orleans police unit instructed his officers to target young black men for questioning, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Police Commander Eddie Selby, the head of the NOPD's Special Operations Division, was reassigned and placed under internal investigation Monday for allegedly giving his officers "inappropriate instructions" before they embarked on downtown patrols.
Selby made the comments to a diverse group of more than 30 people, including patrol officers and ranking supervisors, at a roll call meeting before sending them off to their assignments, the sources said. He told his officers to look for young black males sitting on stoops because they are responsible for recent armed robberies and are likely carrying guns, the sources said.
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Former President Bill Clinton weighed in on Republican efforts in several states to pass new restrictions on voting, comparing the measures to the Jim Crow laws of the past. TalkingPointsMemo Bill Clinton Accuses GOP Of Disenfranchising Minorities
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"There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today," Clinton said in a speech at a Campus Progress conference in Washington.
He specifically called out Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) for trying to reverse past precedent and prevent convicted felons from voting even after they've completed their sentence.
"Why should we disenfranchise people forever once they've paid their price?" Clinton said. "Because most of them in Florida were African Americans and Hispanics who tended to vote for Democrats. That's why."
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It's amazing how many everyday items involved exploiting people living in the developing world. Atlanta Post: The Shea Butter Economy: How Moisture Involves Big Money and Exploitation
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Shea Butter is coveted by global cosmetic companies for its amazing moisturizing properties. As an increasingly sought after ingredient in everything from soothing and nourishing hair and skin care products to lip balms and exfoliating creams – the benefits of shea butter are in high demand across the globe.
The connotation of shea butter however is drastically different among the women of sub-Saharan Africa who harvest the nut of the Karite tree, from which shea butter originates. They are among the 1.2 billion people that live in extreme poverty. That equals one out of every five people on the planet living on less than a dollar a day.
To them shea butter is deemed as “Women’s Gold” for the few extra dollars its yield affords. For in this region it is the women who manually collect, sort, crush, roast, grind, separate the oils from the butter and shape the finished product. It’s all done during the scorching late spring early summer arid heat of the savanna. All done with the majority sold at “so-called” fair trade prices.
Photo courtesy of Kelly Burns
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