SACRAMENTO (TIP): The California Air Resources Board on June 21 honored recipients of the 2016 Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards, California’s premier award recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to improving air quality. Two Indians– Dr V. “Ram” Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor, Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego and Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Centre for Science and Environment, India were among the recipients.

“The Haagen-Smit Award is our way of honoring individuals who have championed public health with extraordinary contributions to air pollution research, science and clean air technology,” CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols said.  “From shaping our understanding of air pollutants and informing policy on climate health, to advocating for the right to clean air in severely polluted cities, their long and distinguished careers have changed how we address climate change and fight air pollution around the world.”

Considered the “Nobel Prize” in air quality achievement, the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards are given annually to individuals who have made significant lifetime contributions toward improving air quality and climate change science, technology and policy, furthering the protection of public health.

Dr. Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan is being recognized for his sustained and innovative contributions to understanding complex linkages between manmade emissions and climate change, especially the need for simultaneous and deep reductions of short- and long-lived climate pollutants in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of global warming. Dr. Ramanathan’s historic research on climate and atmospheric science has been widely recognized around the world. Because of his research, atmospheric physics was linked to atmospheric chemistry, leading to a paradigm shift in the way climate scientists approached the problem of global warming.

Anumita Roychowdhury is being recognized for her notable work on a suite of emission control strategies to mitigate severe air pollution. Ms. Roychowdhury has a long list of success stories for clean air and public health in India. Her most recent policy victory was the national adoption of sweeping new emission standards for cars, trucks, buses, two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Anumita remains a central force in air pollution control in India and throughout the developing world.