Courses
EPS251_EPSC183_ESPMC170:  Carbon Cycle Dynamics

EPSC229:  Concepts in Climate Modeling

ESPM15:   Introduction to Environmental Science

Office Hours
By appointment:
email ifung_AT_berkeley.edu

I was born in Hong Kong where I completed my high school education. I received my S.B. in Applied Mathematics (fluid dynamics) at MIT. The fact that the equations could explain the movement of continents, and the fact that there were toys (the first Lorenz water wheel) associated with fluid dynamics brought me to the graduate program in Meteorology at MIT. Since then I have enjoyed very much my research on the physics of climate change, ecosystem dynamics, and biogeochemical cycles. Building on that work, my colleagues and I are using global carbon-climate models to project future co-evolution of climate and atmospheric CO2.

I am one of ten women scientists featured in the series "Women's Adventures in Science" written for middle school students. My biography is "Forecast Earth" by Renee Skelton. The books are available in libraries and bookstores. I was also featured in short Youtube video sponsored by WIRED magazine:  "What could happen in a world that's 4 degrees warmer?"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Kt_oU9iss  Check out also "STEM Gems: How 44 Women Shine in Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics, and How You Can Too." http://stemgemsbook.com/meet-ourgems/inez-fung/

1971 S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Applied Mathematics)
1977 Sc.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Meteorology)
Thesis: "The organization of spiral rainbands in a hurricane"
Advisor: Prof. J.G. Charney

The climate of the Earth is intimately tied to the composition of the atmosphere and the dynamics of the underlying surface. The atmosphere and land surface exchange energy, water and other trace substances on all space and time scales. The exchange is dependent on, and in turn determines, the states of the atmosphere and biosphere themselves. Our research in the past decade has focused on the processes that maintain and alter climate, as well as on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon dioxide, methane and dust. The goal is to gain predictive capability of how atmospheric composition and climate have evolved in the past and may co-evolve in the future.The present and past variations in atmospheric composition contain information about how sensitive the atmosphere and biosphere are, separately and together, to natural climate fluctuations. This sets the stage for detecting and evaluating the extent to which the systems have been and will be altered by human action.

Keywords: Global climate and climate change. Carbon Cycle. Geophysical fluid dynamics and large-scale numerical modeling. Biogeochemical cycles. Remote sensing of earth systems. Atmosphere-ocean interactions, and atmosphere-biosphere interactions.

Honors

2019:  Fellows Medal, California Academy of Sciences

2019:  Elected Foreign Member, The Royal Society, London

2019:  Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, American Meteorological Society

2017:  Elected member, California Academy of Sciences

2014:  Elected member, American Philophical Society

2014 Elected Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

2010  Elected Member, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

2009  Outstanding Mentor Award, Department of Energy

2009  Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award, UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly

2007  NCAR Community Climate System Modeling Distinguished Achievement Award 

2006 2006 World Technology Network Award for the Environment

2005 Scientific American 50, Scientific American

2004 Roger Revelle Medal, American Geophysical Union

2001 Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences

1996 Fellow, American Geophysical Union

1994 Fellow, American Meteorological Society

1992 - 1997 NASA Goddard Senior Fellow

1991 NOAA Distinguished Authorship Award

1990, 1996 NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Most Valuable Paper Award

1989 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal

1987, 1993 NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Peer Award

1977 C.G. Rossby Award for the outstanding thesis of the year, Department of Meteorology, MIT 

Climate Science and Climate Modeling

     Hydrologic Cycle and Climate

·      Swann, A., I. Fung and J.C.H. Chiang (2012).  Mid-latitude afforestation shifts general circulation and tropical precipitation.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 109, 712-716.  doi: 10.1073/pnas.1116706108.

·      Swann, A., I. Fung, S. Levis, G. Bonan and S. Doney (2010).  Changes in Arctic vegetation amplify high-latitude warming through the greenhouse effect.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 107, 1295-1300.

·      Lee, JE, K. Johnson and I. Fung (2009). Precipitation over South America during the Last Glacial Maximum:  An analysis of the “amount effect” with a water isotope-enable general circulation model.  Geophys Res. Lett.,  doi:10.1029/2009GL039265

·      Lee JE, Fung I, DePaolo DJ and Otto-Bliesner, B (2008).  Water isotopes during the Last Glacial Maxima:  New GCM Calculations. J Geophys. Res.-Atmosphere, 113, doi:10.1029/2008JD009859.

·      Krakauer, N.Y. and I Fung (2008), Mapping and attribution of change in streamflow in the coterminous United States, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 5, 785-810. 

·      Lee, J.-E., I. Fung, D. DePaolo and C.C. Henning (2007).  Analysis of the global distribution of water isotopes using the NCAR atmospheric general circulation model.  J. Geophys. Res., 112, doi:10.1029/2006JD007657.

·      Lee, J.-E., R. S. Oliveira, T. E. Dawson, and I. Fung, Root functioning modifies seasonal climate, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 17576-17581, 2006.

     Modeling Carbon- Climate Interactions

·      Randerson, JR, FM Hoffman, PE Thornton, NM Mahowald, K Lindsay, YH Lee, CD Nevison, SC Doney, G Bonan, R Stockli, C Covey, SW Running, and IY Fung (2009).  Systematic assessment of terrestrial biogeochemistry in coupled climate-carbon models.  Global Change Biology, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01912.x.

·      Thornton, P.E. D. Doney, K. Lindsay, JK Moore, N. Mahowald, J Randerson, I Fung, JF Lamarque, J Feddema, YH Lee (2009).  Carbon-nitrogen interactions regulate climate-carbon cycle feedbacks:  results from an atmosphere-ocean general circulation model.  Biogeosciences, 6, 2099-2120.

·      Denman, K., G.P. Brasseur and others (2007). Coupling between changes in the climate system and biogeochemistry. Chapter 7 in "Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis".  edited by S. Solomon, D. Qin and others.  Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  Published by IPCC and Cambridge University Press.

·      Friedlingstein, P.,  P. Cox, R. Betts, L. Bopp, W. von Bloh, V. Brovkin, S. Doney, M. Eby, I. Fung, B. Govindasamy, J. John, C. Jones, F. Joos,  T. Kato, M. Kawamiya, W. Knorr, K. Lindsay, H. D. Matthews, T. Raddatz, P. Rayner, C. Reick, E. Roeckner, K.-G. Schnitzler, R. Schnur, K. Strassmann, S. Thompson, A. J.Weaver, C. Yoshikawa, and N. Zeng  (2006) Climate –carbon cycle feedback analysis, results from the C⁴MIP model intercomparison.  J. Climate 19(14):  3337-3353.

·      Doney, S.C., K. Lindsay, Fung, I., and J. John, Natural Variability in a Stable, 1000 Year Global Coupled Climate-Carbon Cycle Simulation, J. Climate, 19, 3033-3054, 2006.

·      Fung, I.Y., S.C. Doney, K. Lindsay, and J. John, Evolution of carbon sinks in a changing climate, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102 (32), 11201-11206, 2005.

·      Stine AR, P. Huybers, and I. Fung (2009).  Changes in the phase of the annual cycle of surface temperature.  Nature, 457, 435-441, doi:10.1038/nature07675.

·      Goldstein, AH, CD Koven, C. Heald, and I. Fung (2009).  Biogenic carbon and anthropogenic pollution combine to form a cooling haze over the Southeast United States.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA),  doi:10.1073/pnas.0904128106.

·      Fung, I.  (2007).  Challenges of Climate Modeling.  Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems – Series B (DCDS-B), 7 (3), 543-551.

Carbon Cycle, Atmospheric Tracer Transport

Carbon Data Assimilation

§  Liu, J., I. Fung, E. Kalnay, J-S Kang, E.T. Olsen, and L. Chen (2012).  Simultaneous assimilation of AIRS XCO2 and meteorological observations in a carbon climate model with an ensemble Kalmanfilter.  J. Geophys. Res., 117. doi 10.1029/2011JD016642.

§  Liu, J., I. Fung, E. Kalnay and J-S Kang (2011).  CO2 transport uncertainties from the uncertainties in meteorological fields.  Geophys. Res. Lett., 38.  Doi: 10.1029/2011GL047213.

§  Kang, J.-S., E. Kalnay, J. Liu, I. Fung, T. Miyoshi, and K. Ide (2011), “Variable localization” in an ensemble Kalman filter: Application to the carbon cycle data assimilation, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D09110, doi:10.1029/2010JD014673.

Satellites for the carbon cycle

§  Miller, C. E.; Crisp, D.; DeCola, P. L.; Olsen, S. C.; Randerson, J. T.; Michalak, A. M.; Alkhaled, A.; Rayner, P.; Jacob, D. J.; Suntharalingam, P.; Jones, D. B. A.; Denning, A. S.; Nicholls, M. E.; Doney, S. C.; Pawson, S.; Boesch, H.; Connor, B. J.; Fung, I. Y.; O'Brien, D.; Salawitch, R. J.; Sander, S. P.; Sen, B.; Tans, P.; Toon, G. C.; Wennberg, P. O.; Wofsy, S. C.; Yung, Y. L.; Law, R. M. (2007), Precision requirements for space-based XCO2 data. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112 (D110), 10.1029/2006JD007659.

§  Schimel D, Fung I, DeFries R (2006).  Space-based ecological observations: the NASA decadal survey  FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT 4 (4): 171-171.

§  Crisp, D., R.M. Atlas, F.M. Breon, L.R. Brown, J.P. Burrows, P. Ciais, B.J. Connor, S.C. Doney, I.Y. Fung, D.J. Jacob, C.E. Miller, D. O'Brien, S. Pawson, J.T. Randerson, P. Rayner, R.J. Salawitch, S.P. Sander, B. Sen, G.L. Stephens, P.P. Tans, G.C. Toon, P.O. Wennberg, S.C. Wofsy, Y.L. Yung, Z. Kuang, B. Chudasama, G. Sprague, B. Weiss, R. Pollock, D. Kenyon, and S. Schroll, The orbiting carbon observatory (OCO) mission, in Trace Constituents in the Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere, pp. 700-709, 2004.

The changing carbon cycle

§  Buermann, W., Lintner, B.J., Koven, C.D., Angert, A., Pinzon, J., Tucker, C.J., and Fung, I.Y. (2007).  The changing carbon cycle at Mauna Loa Observatory.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 104 (11), 4249-4254.

§  Lintner, B., W. Buermann, C.D. Koven and I. Fung. Seasonal circulation and Mauna Loa CO2 Variability. J. Geophys Res.111, D13104, doi:10.1029/2005JD00653, 2006.

§  Patra PK, Gurney KR, Denning AS, Nakazawa T., Baker D, Bousquet P, Bruhwiler L, Chen YH, Ciais, P, Fan SM, Fung, I, Gloor, M, Heimann, M, Higuchi, K, John J, Law RM, Maki T, Pak BC, Peylin P, Prather M, Rayner PJ, Sarmiento J, Taguchi S, Takahashi T, Yuen CW (2006).  Sensitivity of inverse estimation of annual mean CO2 sources and sinks to ocean-only sites versus all-sites observational networks.  GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 33 (5): Art. No. L05814. 

§  Lintner, B., W. Buermann, C.D. Koven and I. Fung. Seasonal circulation and Mauna Loa CO2 Variability. J. Geophys Res.111, D13104, doi:10.1029/2005JD00653, 2006.

§  Angert, A., S. Biraud, C. Bonfils, C.C. Henning, W. Buermann, J. Pinzon, C.J. Tucker, and I. Fung, Drier summers cancel out the CO2 uptake enhancement induced by warmer springs, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102 (31), 10823-10827, 2005.

§  Angert, A., S. Biraud, C. Bonfils, W. Buermann, and I. Fung, CO2 seasonality indicates origins of post-Pinatubo sink, Geophysical Research Letters, 31 (11), doi:10.1029/2004GL019760, 2004.

§  Gurney, K.R., R.M. Law, A.S. Denning, P.J. Rayner, B.C. Pak, D. Baker, P. Bousquet, L. Bruhwiler, Y.H. Chen, P. Ciais, I.Y. Fung, M. Heimann, J. John, T. Maki, S. Maksyutov, P. Peylin, M. Prather, and S. Taguchi, Transcom 3 inversion intercomparison: Model mean results for the estimation of seasonal carbon sources and sinks, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 18 (1), 2004.

Inferences about terrestrial carbon processes 

§  Bonfils, C., A. Angert, C.C. Henning, S. Biraud, S.C. Doney, and I. Fung, Extending the record of photosynthetic activity in the eastern United States into the presatellite period using surface diurnal temperature range, Geophysical Research Letters, 32 (8), doi:10.1029/2005GL022583, 2005.

§  Bonfils, C., I. Fung, S. Doney, and J. John, On the detection of summertime terrestrial photosynthetic variability from its atmospheric signature, Geophysical Research Letters, 31 (9), 2004.

§  Still, C.J., J.T. Randerson, and I.Y. Fung, Large-scale plant light-use efficiency inferred from the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO2, Global Change Biology, 10 (8), 1240-1252, 2004.

Atmospheric processes

§  Hoag, K.J., C.J. Still, I.Y. Fung, and K.A. Boering, Triple oxygen isotope composition of tropospheric carbon dioxide as a tracer of terrestrial gross carbon fluxes, Geophysical Research Letters, 32 (2), 2005.

§  Lintner, B.R., A.B. Gilliland, and I.Y. Fung, Mechanisms of convection-induced modulation of passive tracer interhemispheric transport interannual variability, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 109 (D13), 2004.

Dust, Iron and Marine Productivity

§  Boyd PW, Doney SC, Strzepek R, Dusenberry J, Lindsay K, and Fung I (2008). Climate-mediated changes to mixed-layer properties in the Southern Ocean: assessing the phytoplankton response.  Biogeosciences, 5, 847-864.

§  Koven, C.D. and I. Fung (2008).  Identifying global dust source areas using high-resolution land surface form.  Journal Geophysical Researh – Atmospheres, 113, article number D22204.   

§  Koven C. D., I. Fung (2006), Inferring dust composition from wavelength-dependent absorption in Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) data, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D14205, doi:10.1029/2005JD006678.

§  Lam, P.J., J.K.B. Bishop, C. C. Henning, M. A. Marcus, G. Waychunas, and I. Fung (2006). Wintertime phytoplankton bloom in the Subarctic Pacific supported by continental margin iron. Global Biogeochem Cycles, 20(1), GB1006, doi: 10.1029/2005GB002557.

§  Hand, J.L., N.M. Mahowald, Y. Chen, R.L. Siefert, C. Luo, A. Subramaniam, and I. Fung, Estimates of atmospheric-processed soluble iron from observations and a global mineral aerosol model: Biogeochemical implications, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 109 (D17), 2004.

§  Moore, J.K., S.C. Doney, D.M. Glover, and I.Y. Fung, Iron cycling and nutrient-limitation patterns in surface waters of the World Ocean, Deep-Sea Research Part Ii-Topical Studies in Oceanography, 49 (1-3), 463-507, 2002a.

§  Moore, J.K., S.C. Doney, J.A. Kleypas, D.M. Glover, and I.Y. Fung, An intermediate complexity marine ecosystem model for the global domain, Deep-Sea Research Part Ii-Topical Studies in Oceanography, 49 (1-3), 403-462, 2002b.