Gemma Narisma

Gemma Teresa Narisma (April 12, 1972 – March 5, 2021) was a Filipina researcher who served as the executive director of the Manila Observatory in the Philippines and Head of the Regional Climate Systems programme from 2017 to 2021. Narisma was also an associate professor of the Physics Department at the Ateneo de Manila University. She was an author of IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Working Group I.

Research Narisma obtained a BS in applied physics and an MSc in environmental science from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She was the Philippine lead for the Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex), which was investigating the impact of fires and pollution on clouds to improve climate forecasts. During this project, Narisma contributed to the formation of young scientists from the Philippines in climate sciences.

Her work in climate science was recognised through the award of National Academy of Science and Technology Outstanding Young Scientist in Atmospheric Science (2012). Narisma was recognised as one of ten outstanding women scientists in the Philippines by TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) in 2013, and received National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Achievement Award in Earth and Space Sciences in 2018. Narisma contributed to Working Group I of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, and they dedicated the AR6 Working Group I Atlas to her memory. which explores her work on climate projections; the book is part of a women in science series.

Narisma died on March 5, 2021, at the age of 49.