Celebrating our colleagues
The Atmospheric Stars Awards aim to thank and reward people for making a positive difference at work, going above and beyond in their activities, and being exceptional colleagues. We hope that the Atmospheric Stars Awards are a way to celebrate those who work at NCAS.
Nominations
You can put forward any colleague – or team of colleagues- at any time of year, by completing the Atmospheric Stars Award nomination form.
We encourage you to take some time to consider which of your colleagues have made a real difference to you, your team, your projects, or NCAS as a whole.
Nominations should describe how a colleague or team has gone ‘above and beyond’ in relation to our values of excellence, fairness, and innovation. We have added a sustainability category this year for you to nominate colleagues advocating and making change towards a greener future.
All staff are eligible and anyone in NCAS can nominate anyone else. A person/team can only receive one award a year – but you can make as many different nominations as you like – and the activity they are being recognised for should have been completed in the past year.
Please do not use the same nomination text for more than one submission as they should refer to individual achievements. The submissions will be scored by a small panel of colleagues across NCAS, so please take time to complete all the required fields.
Contact Lisa Banton, Head of People, EDI & Workforce Development, if you have any questions about the nomination process.
The deadline for nominations is Friday 19 September 2025 at 17:00.
Award winners
Each award includes a certificate of thanks and a special gift.
Atmospheric Stars Awards 2022
Debi Cruz, Finance and Contracts Officer, based at FAAM
Nathan Betts, Communications Officer, based in Leeds
Vicky Boult, Research Scientist, based in Reading
Laurents Marker, Software Developer, based in Leeds
Nicola Bray, Senior Administrator, based in Reading
Jim Hopkins, Research Scientist, based in York
Ali Gane, Workforce Lifecycle Manager, based in Leeds
Doug Anderson, FAAM Aircraft Deployment Specialist, based at FAAM
Maria Russo, Research Scientist, based in Cambridge
David Appleyard, IT Technical Projects Specialist, based in Leeds
Frances Dee, People and Community for Change Officer, based in Leeds
Dave Sproson, FAAM Data Scientist, based at FAAM
Katie Read, Research scientist and Technical Specialist for the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory, based in York
Harriett Richardson, Communications Manager, based in Leeds
Atmospheric Stars Awards 2023
Lindsay Bennett, Radar Instrument Scientist, based in Leeds
Charles Chemel, Senior Research Scientist in Atmospheric Boundary-Layer Science, based at Leeds
Ioana Colfescu, Senior Research Scientist and Climate and High Impact Weather Co-Theme Leader, based at Leeds
Gemma Cornish, Operations and Administration Project Support Manager, based in Leeds
Hayley Gray, CEDA Frontline Helpdesk Operator, based at the Centre for Environmental Data Analysi
Paul Griffiths, Research Scientist, based in Cambridge
Jenny Hudson-Bell, Research Administrator, based at York
Oscar Martínez-Alvarado, Senior Research Scientist, based at Reading
Kim Mernagh, Administrator, based at Reading
Ryan Neely, Associate Professor in Observational Atmospheric Science, based in Leeds
Hannah Price, Science Partnership Lead, based at FAAM Airborne Laboratory
Alan Woolley, Site Lead for the FAAM Airborne Laboratory
Steve Woolnough, Site Lead for Reading
The Net Zero Digital Research Infrastructure Team, a collaboration of 9 operational and science colleagues across multiple sites
The WOEST Campaign Team, a team of over 20 colleagues comprising scientists, operational staff and a student
Atmospheric Stars Awards 2024
Annalisa Amodeo, Administrator working as part of the FAAM team
Alex Lodge, Project and Systems Specialist based within the FAAM team
Doug Anderson, Aircraft Deployment Specialist based within the FAAM team
Eleanor Dixon, Communications Officer, based within the FAAM Mid-Life Upgrade team
Pete Edwards, Research Fellow at the University of York, and Site Lead for NCAS at York
Alex Taylor, Finance Assistant based in Leeds
Raluca Stefan, Finance Assistant based in Leeds
Hugo Ricketts, Research Scientist based at the University of Manchester
Xiangbo Feng, Senior Research Scientist based in Reading
Anthony Lindley, Systems Engineer based at FAAM
Kim Nip, Finance Officer based at the University of Reading
Ryan Neely, Associate Professor based in Leeds
Heather Guy, Research Fellow based in Leeds
Awards panel
The awards panel is chaired by Lisa Banton, Head of People, EDI and Workforce Development.
There will be no Directors involved in the decision-making. We are keen to encourage early-career staff to join the panel as a development opportunity.
The anticipated time commitment will be a few hours to read the nominations, and then to participate in a panel meeting (via Google Meet) to decide on the successful nominations.
Nominations will be assessed in November, and awards will be presented to staff in December.
If you are interested in being part of the panel, please email Lisa Banton.
Further recognition
We still urge you to follow formal recognition processes at your host institutions, as the Atmospheric Stars Awards aren’t intended to be a substitute or to impact on promotions or other employee rewards.
NCAS also recognises staff for long-term commitment. Long Service Awards are presented for each decade of service to NCAS.