Susan Avery's PhD adviser Marvin Gellar saw her potential right away — and not just in terms of scientific acumen. “I predicted she would go further than her considerable scientific talents alone might merit because of her excellent people skills and effective collaborations,” says Gellar. With Avery due to start as president of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Gellar's prediction looks sound. See CV

Avery began her undergraduate study in physics at Michigan State University in East Lansing, but soon decided to focus on the physics of the natural world. She considered oceanography, then opted to study how atmospheric waves propagate in the stratosphere as a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Upper-atmospheric physics research programmes are often found in electrical-engineering departments because the region, dubbed the ionosphere, controls how radiowaves move through the atmosphere. This engineering experience opened the door to Avery's first faculty position, in the University of Illinois' electrical-engineering department.

When her husband got a job in Boulder, Avery amassed two fellowships — from the National Science Foundation and the University of Colorado's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES) — to start her own research. She quickly built collaborations at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and soon had a faculty position at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Avery then developed new radar technology that allowed the first measurements of wind in the upper atmosphere of remote equatorial regions, leading to years of collaborations in the tropics. “My work began to flourish by bringing point observations into the global context,” she says.

After earning tenure, she reluctantly accepted a position as associate dean of research and graduate education. Before long, she became director of CIRES, where she spent a decade creating interdisciplinary programmes, and realized she enjoyed that part of the job.

Known as a strong administrative leader, Avery has held several key interim positions at the university since it underwent drastic changes between 2005 and 2007. Then she sought a change, and found it at the Woods Hole in Massachusetts. “I admit it was scary to accept a position leading a different field of scientists,” she says. Among her initial goals at Woods Hole will be addressing the ocean's role in climate change.