Eugenia Kalnay, 66, was awarded the prize by the World Meteorological Organisation for “her outstanding contributions” in the field of climatology.

Ms Kalnay obtained her undergraduate degree in meteorology at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in 1965. According to her, professor Rolando Garcia had a “tremendous influence” on her which is “impossible to underestimate”. A year later she fled the country to the US, when Juan Carlos Onganía presided over a military government in Argentina. His time in power witnessed the biggest exodus of Argentine scientists the country has ever known.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ms Kalnay obtained a PhD where not only was she the first woman to achieve a doctorate in Meteorology, but also the first to get pregnant.

Ms Kalnay has made important contributions despite having to work in the male dominated world of science. She notes that “perhaps the most challenging problem I faced was when I became Branch Head at NASA/Goddard, and I had to lead a bunch of very strong, male scientists.”

Whilst working for NASA she developed a model to measure climate, which is currently used all over the world. It is also being used to tackle the problem of climate change, which Ms Kalnay sees as significant in her field of work: “Meteorology is applied physics/engineering. My specialty, numerical weather prediction (the computer modeling of the atmosphere), allows me to work in science and to do something useful to mankind at the same time. Another area of research in atmospheric sciences that I work on, perhaps even more important for mankind, is studying climate change and providing guidance on what we can do to avoid a disaster for our children and grandchildren.”

At present Ms Kalnay conducts research for the University of Maryland, but she carries the UBA close to her heart: “It gave me everything,” she often says.