The California Air Resources Board today honored recipients of the 2020-2021 Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards, widely recognized as California’s premier award recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to improving air quality. The contributions of this year’s award winners will have lasting impacts for air quality and climate goals not only in California, but throughout the world, CARB said.
“The Haagen-Smit Award is our way of honoring individuals who have championed public health with innovative and far-reaching contributions to air pollution research, science, clean air technology and advocacy, policy and leadership,” CARB Chair Liane Randolph said. “From shaping our understanding of the human health impacts of toxic diesel pollution to groundbreaking work in atmospheric chemistry research, the long and distinguished careers of these six extraordinary people have changed how we address climate change and fight air pollution around the world.”
The 2020-2021 Award Recipients
Air Quality Science / Technology: David Kittelson, Ph.D., Frank B. Rowley Distinguished Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota
Professor David Kittelson is considered “the” world leader and pioneer of diesel emission research. Very early on, in the 1970s, Professor Kittelson began lecturing auto manufacturers and agencies on the human health impacts of diesel particulate pollution and the need for mitigation. His research, at the frontier of combustion engine emission studies, provided the fundamental foundational knowledge of diesel particle formation that enabled today’s current stringent regulations. He has also worked tirelessly on technologies to reduce emissions from engines while also improving performance. Professor Kittelson has been a professor at the University of Minnesota since 1980.
International Air Quality Leadership: Kunsheng Li, Director of Vehicle Emission Management Division, Beijing Ecology and Environment Bureau, China
Mr. Kunsheng Li has worked for more than 20 years on the management of vehicle emissions in China, with a focus on Beijing. Similar to the leading role on air quality that California has played for other parts of the U.S., Beijing has led the way toward greatly improved air quality for China. Mr. Kunsheng Li steadily promoted and implemented numerous mobile source emission control measures and coordinated legislation that significantly contributed to the improvement of Beijing’s atmospheric environmental quality, with Beijing becoming China’s leading city on mobile source emissions control. He is also a Senior Engineer and Vice Chairman of the Automotive Engineering Society of China, and a member of the Oil Produce Application and Development Professional Committee of China’s Petroleum Society.
Air Quality Community Service / Environmental Justice: Paul M. Ong, Ph.D., Research Professor and Director, Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, University of California Los Angeles
Professor Paul M. Ong has engaged in a lifetime career of multifaceted commitment to air quality and community service. Specifically, he has worked for more than three decades as a scientist and educator on interdisciplinary social science and environmental teaching, policy-focused research, and community engagement. He is now the Director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at the University of California Los Angeles that works to contribute to positive social change through information from applied research at regional and local scales. Professor Ong’s more than 100 publications addressing racial inequalities have had an outsized influence on concerns for environmental justice. Professor Ong is also a Research Professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Air Quality Research: Stephen E. Schwartz, Ph.D., Senior Scientist Emeritus, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Dr. Stephen E. Schwartz is a recognized expert in atmospheric chemistry, radiative forcing of climate change, and the response of climate to anthropogenic factors. His research specialty includes the influences of energy related emissions on climate, with a focus on the role of atmospheric aerosols. For example, he developed now widely used approaches to characterize the rate and extent of acid-forming reactions in clouds. Several of Dr. Schwartz’s publications have been highly influential research milestones and have impacted important policies including the Clean Air Act. Trained as a chemist with specialization in physical chemistry and chemical kinetics, Dr. Schwartz has been on the scientific staff at Brookhaven National Laboratory since 1975.
Climate Change Science: Richard C. J. Somerville, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego
Professor Richard C. J. Somerville is an internationally recognized climate scientist and an expert on communicating clearly to the public what scientists have learned about climate change. His research has led to many important innovations in climate computer models, and he has copiously published research on myriad climate science topics including geophysical fluid dynamics, thermal convection, and radiative transfer, to name just a few. Besides writing and co-authoring scientific reports plus promoting scientific literacy and the understanding of science-based values as they relate to the implications of climate change, his long list of contributions also includes mentoring students who have gone on to become climate leaders. Professor Somerville has been a professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego since 1979.
Environmental Policy: Jürgen Resch, Executive Director of Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe)
Mr. Jürgen Resch has worked tirelessly to create broad alliances across nongovernmental, scientific, and industrial organizations to bring forward available technology to reduce air pollution. Mr. Resch also has persistently championed the need for the legal jurisdiction of environmental rights, regulatory legislation, and strong market surveillance — and has not hesitated to uncover fraud. For example, he took action in Germany on the automaker diesel scandal by providing solid data on real-world emissions and taking legal action to get access to relevant information. Mr. Resch is currently an Executive Director of Environmental Action Germany, one of the most active nongovernmental organizations in Germany for clean air policy.
Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards
The Haagen-Smit awards are given annually to those who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of clean air, climate change, technology and related policies. Considered to be California’s premier air quality award, it is named for CARB’s first chairman, the late Dr. Arie Haagen-Smit – best known for linking the smog in Southern California to automobiles. The award recognizes those who have followed in his footsteps in pursuit of clean air. The Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards have been presented since 2001. Winners have ranged from research scientists to educators to public agency administrators.
California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph said today that the Board is appointing Dr. Steven Cliff as CARB’s new Executive Officer, replacing CARB’s previous Executive Officer, Richard Corey, who retired at the end of June. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/
Cliff, whose professional training was in atmospheric chemistry, has extensive experience at the highest levels of state and federal government agencies. He served for four years as CARB’s Deputy Executive Officer overseeing mobile sources prior to his current position as Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“Steve brings a deep understanding of the science of air pollution, along with a strong commitment and track record of promoting the solutions that deliver clean air benefits for all Californians, especially those living in communities impacted by persistent pollution,” said CARB Chair Liane Randolph. “He is the right choice to implement the Board’s vision during this crucial decade as we move ahead with the ambitious policies and programs to tackle the state’s climate emergency and continue to prioritize equity both within CARB’s workforce and in the communities we serve. His experience developing programs and incentives to promote zero-emission vehicles that protect communities from harmful air pollution, and his support for sustainable transportation and mobility options ensure a continued focus at CARB on equity that delivers low-carbon solutions where they are most needed.”
Cliff was appointed by President Biden to NHTSA in February 2021. As the NHTSA Administrator, Cliff oversees the nation’s vehicle safety agency that sets vehicle safety standards, identifies safety defects and manages recalls, and educates Americans to help them drive, ride, and walk safely. While at NHTSA Cliff oversaw the development of tough fuel efficiency requirements for passenger cars and light trucks, initiated rule making on heavy-duty fuel efficiency standards and for pedestrian automatic emergency braking in passenger vehicles, and finalized a rule to improve access to safe vehicles for people with disabilities
Prior to his time in the federal government, Cliff served as the deputy executive officer at CARB. He began his career at CARB in 2008 as an air pollution specialist in the then Office of Climate Change. Since then, he has held a variety of positions at CARB and from 2014 to 2016, he served at the California Department of Transportation as the assistant director for sustainability. He returned to CARB in 2016 when then-Governor Jerry Brown appointed him senior advisor to CARB’s then Chair.
As deputy executive officer at CARB from 2017 to 2021, Cliff oversaw the regulations for all vehicles including passenger cars, and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles both on- and off-road. He also oversaw transportation land-use planning and analysis, and worked with environmental and equity advocates on developing incentive and investment programs for reducing emissions and making the cleanest cars available to low-income consumers and impacted communities. Under his watch, CARB implemented $1.5 billion in low-carbon and zero-emission transportation projects. Almost $1 billion of those investments directly benefited priority populations, including financing assistance and incentives to purchase or upgrade vehicles for low-income consumers, the launch of the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project, and $149 million for zero and near-zero emission trucks and equipment at freight facilities.
For nearly two decades, Cliff was affiliated with the University of California, Davis, joining the school’s Applied Sciences department as a research professor, and later associated with the school’s Air Quality Research Center. Through the years, he established independent air quality and climate research programs and served as an approved program coordinator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Light Source, a specialized particle accelerator that generates bright beams of x-ray light for scientific research.
Cliff received a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in atmospheric sciences at the University of California, Davis’ Department of Land, Air and Water Resources.
Cliff lives in Sacramento with his partner Maureen Palmer, a genetic counselor, and two children, both now in college and law school. A native of Napa Valley, Cliff enjoys returning to the ranch he grew up on and rebuilding the family property after it was ravaged in the Atlas Fire in 2017.
Cliff’s first day at CARB will be September 12, 2022.
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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with seven key educational partners in the Riverside area to promote learning and awareness of California’s clean air efforts and develop a range of educational and learning opportunities for students at its new CARB Southern California Headquarters – Mary D. Nichols Campus.
CARB re-signed updated MOUs with the University of California, Riverside (UCR), Riverside Community College District and the Riverside Unified School District. New MOUs were formalized with the Alvord Unified School District, Cal Baptist University, La Sierra University and the Riverside County Office of Education.
“CARB is excited to be a vital part of the Riverside community. We look forward to using our state-of-the-art facility and its world-class laboratories to facilitate awareness of air quality challenges and further scientific research with the local educational institutions,” said Annette Hebert, Deputy Executive Officer of CARB’s Southern California Headquarters. “It’s an opportunity to strengthen our ties with schools and students from the region and help build support for the science that underpins our solutions to the air pollution challenges we face in the Riverside area, and the rest of the state.