beate g. liepert
Dr. Beate G. Liepert discovered during her graduate work at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich that declines in solar energy reaching Earth’s surface were equivalent to the predicted global warming signal. Despite great skepticism of her theorem, she received her Ph.D. with this thesis, and her discovery was eventually recognized as a worldwide phenomenon coined "global dimming" and cited in the first report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. From early on Liepert suspected that global dimming could be used as a "Rosetta stone" in explaining previously unsolved climate puzzles. Liepert went on to explore global dimming further using hot air balloons. Her story was featured in the BBC documentary "Dimming the Sun," and her hot air balloon flights became a New Yorker "The Talk of the Town" story. Now that global dimming is widely accepted, Liepert focuses her research and development on solar energy optimization.
Born: 1963
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Education: Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics
Occupation: Climate scientist and entrepreneur
Expeditions: Hot air balloon flights into pollution clouds over New Jersey
Favorite Place To Be: In the balloon basket shortly before landing
Best Discoveries: Global dimming, the fact that air pollution and clouds masked global warming by reflecting sunlight back to space
Favorite Item In The Field: Good polarized sunglasses
Personal Hero: Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek
Hobbies: Fine arts, drawing, painting
Website: www.linkedin.com/in/beateliepert
Advice: The moments of true insight are very rare, cherish them
Blog Posts:
International Women’s Day acknowledges the achievements of women around the world.
This year, women are uniting and holding a strike to call attention to the significant contributions women make in society. In solidarity, we are recognizing five WINGS fellows whose incredible discoveries significantly advanced their respective fields of science.
Without these trailblazers, our understanding of the world and the universe surely would be hindered. They are truly Women of Discovery. To learn more about the rest of our Fellows and the incredible work they do, visit our Fellows page.
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