The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) awards the 2024 IASC Medal to Dr. James Overland (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA), for outstanding long-lasting achievements to improve interdisciplinary knowledge, particularly on the linkages between changes in the Arctic and the weather in mid-latitudes. As well as ensuring this information becomes widely available through his ability to present complex information in an accessible way and his critical role in the formation of the IASC Atmosphere Working Group.
Dr. Overland has been an active and world-leading contributor to Arctic research for more than 50 years. His early contributions in the 1970s and 1980s emphasized climate and sea ice variability in the Pacific sector of the Arctic. In the 1990s these contributions broadened to encompass impacts on Arctic marine ecosystems, including marine mammals. During the last decades, he has addressed pan-Arctic climate variations and trends and placed Arctic climate change into a global context with new knowledge on the Arctic Amplification and the Arctic-midlatitude linkages. Through his work on linkages, he has opened the eyes of politicians and the general public around the world to understand that what happens in the Arctic not only impact the Arctic system and its people, but that it has a huge impact on the rest of the world as well.
In addition to being an outstanding scientist, Dr. Overland has also provided outstanding service to the international community for many decades. He has been a lead author in both regional (e.g. SWIPA 2017) and global climate change assessment reports (e.g. IPCC AR5). He organized the IASC Atmospheric Working Group and served as a chair for six years. He also contributed to the initiation of MOSAiC, together with M. Tjernström (Sweden) and K. Dethloff (Germany), laying out the importance of multi-seasonal observations.
Through his excellent communication skills, he has brought scientific knowledge to broad audiences. His long-term dedication to the Arctic community and exceptional scientific work have provided significant inputs and will continue to contribute to understanding the Arctic in a global context through the legacy of his work.
Dr. Overland will deliver his IASC Medal Lecture with the title “Climate Science: From the First International Polar Year to the Urgency of Arctic Extremes” at the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2024 in Edinburgh (Scotland, UK) and online on 26 March 2024 as part of the ASSW 2024 Science Day from 09:30 - 10:00 GMT / UK time.
IASC would like to thank the 2024 IASC Medal Committee for their services: Margareta Johansson (Chair) (CWG), Sergi Pla-Rabes (TWG), Muyin Wang (AWG), Mark Inall (MWG and Alison Perrin (SHWG, IASC Fellow).
Photo Courtesy of Dr. James Overland