Jenni L. Evans, AMS Centennial President and creator of the AMS Joanne Simpson Tropical Meteorology Research Award, made significant advances in our understanding of tropical and extratropical cyclones, particularly in areas such as storm structure, intensity change, and forecasting. Over her career, she combined rigorous research with a strong commitment to mentorship, collaboration, and service to the scientific community, including contributions to international efforts through organizations like the World Meteorological Organization.
During the recent 37th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology in San Diego, California, which featured many of Jenni’s research contributions, one of her former PhD students—Kelly Núñez Ocasio, now an assistant professor at Texas A&M—organized and led a special session in her memory to highlight her contributions and her commitment to the community. Attendees noted that the speakers, including a special invited talk by her second former PhD student, Bob Hart, a professor at Florida State University, provided a thoughtful and well-rounded reflection on her scientific contributions and personal legacy.
| Presentations at the Jenni Evans Tribute Session | |
| Memories of Prof. Jenni Evans from her second Ph.D. student | Robert E. Hart (Florida State University) |
| Extratropical Cyclone Case Study: Meteorological Elements Required from an Emergency Management Perspective | Daryl Schaffer, PhD, MSDM, MHRM (Center for Arctic Security and Resilience, United States Coast Guard) |
| Parsing the Response of the Large-Scale Tropical Circulation to Manual Modulation of Tropical Cyclones | Joshua Pan (Pennsylvania State University) et al. |
| Are Tropical Cyclones Moving Northwards In the Atlantic? | Randy Aird (University of West Indies) et al. |
| How Hurricanes Fall Apart across Basins: Progress Toward a Global Assessment of over-Ocean Tropical Cyclone Weakening | Kim Wood (The University of Arizona) |
The special session, “From Tropics to Extratropics: Exploring Cyclone Dynamics in Current and Future Climates in Memory of Jenni Evans,” has been recorded in its entirety, and it is posted to the AMS website. Click the link above for access to the recording as well as links to abstracts of the presentations made during this special session. The table above also lists and links individually to the session abstracts, all of which are available in the recording.
For more about Jenni’s remarkable career as well as her service to our community, her colleague and close friend Patrick Harr contributed a memorial of Jenni.
Reactions from her colleagues at Penn State were posted by the Earth and Mineral Sciences Department at Penn State, which also announced Jenni’s memorial celebration last year.
Inspiring words below from her colleagues and companions, remembering her legacy, spirit, tenacity, and humor.
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“I will continue her legacy of supporting and uplifting women and other underrepresented groups in our field.”
—Kelly M. Núñez Ocasio
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“During her tenure as AMS president, Jenni implemented her vision of expanding the long-standing AMS tradition of service to society by challenging members to do even more to be leaders in building societal resilience, while incorporating social justice into their actions related to solving complex challenges associated with weather, water, and climate hazards.”
—Patrick Harr
“Jenni was a remarkable scientist, a leader in our field, and a vibrant member of our community. Her passion for understanding tropical cyclones and their interaction with our changing climate will have a lasting impact on both research and operational forecasting.“
—Paul Markowski
“…I spent in some way or another a full decade at Penn State with a master’s in-between [earning an undergraduate degree and then a PhD with Jenni]. That provides me a really unique latent experience with [her] as a person and as an advisor. That began with her culture about giving exams, in dynamics. It was her first semester … She showed on the first day the rubric for the course, and it had as the final exam like 65 to 70 percent of the grade. And here we are, all these students, having heard how difficult dynamics was. And then you realize you’re not going to know over half your grade until the last week of the class. We complained. They all turned to me to be the one to complain! … And she said, ‘Well, I’ll think about it.’ She went home, thought about it, came back the next day … and said, ‘I thought about it, and no, it will not change.’“
—Bob Hart, Jenni Evans’ second PhD student, who knew then and there the challenges he would face but also the resolve with having Jenni as his PhD advisor
