Earth Observatory: Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in meteorology, died March 4, 2010, at the age of 86. Her groundbreaking, influential career spanned more than half a century...In the photo above, taken in the 1950s, Simpson is bent over reams of images of clouds that she filmed during long flights between islands in the tropical Pacific. From the photos, she is drawing detailed maps of cloud formations These observations underpinned her first major contribution to atmospheric science: the boat-rocking hypothesis that tropical clouds weren't just the passive result of atmospheric circulation, as meteorologists of the day believed, but were in fact the cause of it...
Many scientists go their entire careers without the satisfaction of making such a significant contribution to their field... Her interest in tropical clouds was considered acceptable by the all-male faculty at the University of Chicago, where she earned her doctorate, because, as the department head told her, no one was very interested in them, so it was a good subject 'for a little girl to study.'
Washington Post: 'There is zero doubt that there has never been a more capable woman in meteorology, and she would also be in the top five of all meteorologists in history, no matter the gender,' said Greg Holland, director of the Earth Systems Laboratory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
She was candid about the number of obstacles she had to overcome... She became interested in clouds while learning to sail and later as a student pilot... She and two other women sought fellowships for doctoral work in meteorology. A faculty adviser said that no woman had ever received a doctorate in meteorology, none ever would. So she began saving for tuition by teaching at the Illinois Institute of Technology...
In 1951, she became a research meteorologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, where... she constructed some of the first mathematical models of clouds. The Navy lent Woods Hole an old PBY-6A airplane, which they outfitted with scientific instruments. But Woods Hole's director said women were not allowed on its field trips. The naval officer who arranged the aircraft, however, told the director, 'No Joanne, no airplane.' She flew.
