Jane Baldwin, a Ph.D. candidate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton University, has received a top student paper award from the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) Board on Environment and Health.

Her winning presentation at AMS’ Eighth Conference on Environment and Health was titled “Quantifying the Risk of Compound Heat Wave Events.” It analyzed heat-wave events and their probabilities in the present and projected future.

Baldwin is a fellow with Princeton Environmental Institute’s Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (PEI-STEP), offered in affiliation with Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Her research interests focus on how large-scale atmospheric dynamics influence regional climate, with an eye to climate change and policy applications.

Baldwin’s dissertation research, advised by Gabriel Vecchi, professor of geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute, examines the impacts of mountains on precipitation features including deserts and monsoons. Through her PEI-STEP fellowship, she researches the risk of heat waves with Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs; professor of geosciences and international affairs; and director, STEP.

“When I started my STEP fellowship, I branched out into a new area of research, so it is very encouraging to get recognition for this work,” Baldwin said. “I am excited to continue to develop this and other projects at the intersection of policy and climate research going forward. The new connections I made at the conference with researchers focused on the impacts of heat waves will be very valuable in achieving this.”

The AMS' Board on Environment and Health advances the understanding of Earth's environmental influences on human health. The Conference on Environment and Health is held as part of the AMS Annual Meeting, the world’s largest annual gathering for the weather, water and climate community.