Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, professor of geography and geosciences at the University of Vermont and the Vermont state climatologist, has been appointed to serve on the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She is the first Vermont-based scientist to receive this invitation.
In her new appointment, Dupigny-Giroux will work with the board to review, better understand and make recommendations regarding approaches and responses to the issues and challenges related to weather, climate and climate change currently facing the United States. One of the most important projects overseen by the BASC is the National Climate Assessment, a report mandated by Congress that analyzes the impacts of climate change across the country.
An expert in floods, droughts, and severe weather, Dupigny-Giroux has served as Vermont state climatologist since 1997 and is the immediate past president of the American Association of State Climatologists. She was appointed to the Vermont Climate Council in 2020 and continues to serve that body as the climate change science expert.
Dupigny-Giroux is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a master's degree in climatology and hydrology and a doctorate in climatology and geographic information systems from McGill University. Her current research focuses on climate literacy and the relationships among hydroclimatic natural hazards, geospatial climate and land-surface processes.