Joanne Malkus was the first female meteorologist to earn a doctorate. She discovered what keeps hurricanes moving forward and revealed what drives the atmospheric currents in the tropics. As a research associate at WHOI from 1948-1951, she constructed some of the first mathematical models of clouds. To validate her work, she needed to fly into tall clouds near the equator. The Navy loaned her a retrofitted airplane for that purpose, but at WHOI during that time, women were not allowed on field expeditions. The naval officer who arranged the aircraft, however, said, "No Joanne, no airplane." She flew.

Joanne spent a decade as a meteorologist at WHOI before becoming the director of NOAA’s Experimental Meteorology Laboratory. She spent 30 years at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she was chief scientist for meteorology and head of the Severe Storm Branch. Joanne was the first female president of the American Meteorological Society, where she received its highest honor, the Carl-Gustav Rossby Research Medal, in 1983. She was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and in 2002, she was awarded the prestigious International Meteorological Organization Prize–the first woman to receive the award.

Learn more about this incredible OceanPioneer: go.whoi.edu/joanne-malkus