Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics

Lesley E Ott

(RESEARCH AST, METEOROLOGICAL STUDIES)

Lesley E Ott's Contact Card & Information.
Email: lesley.e.ott@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.6093
Org Code: 610.1
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 610.1
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Missions & Projects

Brief Bio

Lesley Ott is a climate scientist with 20 years experience studying air pollution, greenhouse gases, and climate change. She received her PhD in atmospheric science from the University of Maryland in 2006 and has been working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center ever since. Her work focuses on using a combination of satellite data and advanced Earth system models to better understand the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases and how the processes that control them may change over time.


Since 2024, she has served as the Project Scientist for the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center, a multi-agency effort designed to improve the quality, transparency, and accessibility of greenhouse gas information in support of national climate mitigation efforts. She also chairs the modeling task team for the World Meteorological Organization's Global Greenhouse Gas Watch.

Research Interests

Greenhouse gas monitoring

Combining satellite observations and models to provide information on greenhouse gas concentrations and sources and sinks.

Integrated carbon cycle modeling

Connecting high quality models that describe the movement of carbon through Earth’s land, oceans, and atmospheres.

Greenhouse gas mission planning

Using advanced modeling tools to plan next generation remote sensing observations of greenhouse gases and pollutants.

Experimental carbon cycle forecasts

Developing experimental forecasts of the major flows of carbon on timescales from days to months.

Atmospheric composition forecasting

Providing high-resolution, daily estimates of atmospheric composition in support of a variety of research and applications.

Positions/Employment

Project Scientist

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center - Greenbelt, MD

May 2024 - Present

Research Meteorologist

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

January 2011 - Present


Assistant Research Scientist

Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Baltimore, MD

October 2008 - January 2011


NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

October 2006 - October 2008


Graduate Research Assistant

Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park - College Park, MD

September 2000 - September 2006


Education

Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Maryland - College Park, 2006
Dissertation: An Analysis of Convective Transport, Lightning NOx Production, and Chemistry in Midlatitude and Subtropical Thunderstorms

M.Sc. in Meteorology from the University of Maryland - College Park, 2003

B.Sc. in Physical Sciences from the University of Maryland - College Park, 2000

Professional Service

Chair, World Meteorological Organization's Global Greenhouse Gas Watch Modeling Task Team

Member of National Academies of Sciences Panel: Midterm Assessment of Implementation of the Decadal Survey

Editor of Environmental Research Letters Special Collection on Carbon Monitoring Systems

US Global Change Research Program, State of Carbon Cycle Report 2 (SOCCR2), Chapter 8

Member of US Delegation to COP22, Marrakech, Morocco

Member of National Academies of Sciences Panel: Earth Science and Applications from Space 2017 Decadal Survey – Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems and Natural Resource Management

Member of NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System, OCO, and GeoCarb Science Teams

Lead, Goddard Task Group on Changes in the Arctic and Boreal System (CABS)

Lead, Goddard Task Group on Urban Environments

Selected Public Outreach

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center

December 2023 - Present

Earth Information Center

December 2023 - Present

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office

October 2006 - Present

Contact Us

James Gleason
Chief
301-614-5736
james.f.gleason@nasa.gov

General inquiries about the scientific programs at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center may be directed to the Center Office of Communications at 1.301.286.8955.