Jonathan Jiang

Jonathan Hongtao Jiang is a Chinese-American atmospheric and space scientist and astrophysicist. He was a Senior Research Scientist and Principal Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, where he led the Aerosol and Cloud Research Group.

Early life and education Jiang earned a Bachelor of Science degree in astrophysics from Beijing Normal University in 1985, before teaching at the Nanking Institute of Technology until 1989. He later moved to Canada, completing a Master of Science in astrophysics (1991) and a Doctor of Philosophy in atmospheric science (1996) at York University in Toronto. He conducted postdoctoral research at McGill University, the Université du Québec à Montréal, and the California Institute of Technology.

Career Jiang joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1999. Since 2015, he has served as supervisor of the Aerosol and Cloud Group and Principal Scientist in JPL’s Engineering and Science Directorate.

Research Jiang’s research addresses the role of aerosols and clouds in climate change, radiative transfer, and the evaluation of global climate models. His work has contributed to Earth-observing missions including Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), CloudSat, DSCOVR, and PACE, as well as to proposals for future missions such as ENTICE and TWICE.

Honors and recognition Fellow, American Meteorological Society (2023) NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (2019) NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals (2010, 2013) Edward Stone Award for Outstanding Research Publication (2006, 2019)

Selected works