From studying volcanoes to observing Earth’s surface from space, atmospheric scientist and Cornell Atkinson Senior Faculty Fellow Natalie Mahowald strives to better understand earth system feedback mechanisms that impact climate change and could improve climate models. Examples include NASA-funded missions investigating the atmospheric movement of volcanic ash and desert dust, including measurements from a science instrument being launched to the International Space Station. “This will help us understand a lot more about how desert dust – an important source of aerosols to the atmosphere – changes the energy budget of the planet,” Mahowald said. “Is it going to cause us to warm more or cool more?” An author of a 2018 U.N. report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, Mahowald draws inspiration from her students working to innovate and implement climate solutions. “It makes me very optimistic that we can solve some of these great challenges,” she said.