CHRIS ELFRING

ELFRING CHRIS ELFRING (Age 62) of Takoma Park, MD, died from brain cancer June 7, 2018, surrounded by family and friends. Chris was born in Berwyn, IL in 1955 and moved with her family to the Philadelphia area in 1969. She received a B.A. from Denison University and an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin. In 1979, she moved to Washington, DC as a AAAS Science Fellow working at the Office of Technology Assessment. For several summers in the early 1980s, Chris worked as a park ranger at Acadia National Park in Maine. In 1988, Chris began her career with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where most recently she was the Executive Director of the Gulf Research Program. Previously, Chris was Director of both the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate and the Polar Research Board. She provided strategic leadership to the suite of activities known as "America's Climate Choices". She was a leader in the planning of International Polar Year 2007-2008, and has a geographic feature in Antarctica, Elfring Peak, named in honor of her polar science work. In 2012, the American Meteorological Society awarded her the Cleveland Abbe Award for Distinguished Service to the Atmospheric Sciences and she was elected an AMS Fellow. Chris had a long-standing interest in the policy dimensions of science and communicating science to non-scientists. Her deep love of the environment and the outdoors touched all who knew her -- at work, in her community, and her family -- to their great and enduring benefit. Chris is survived by her spouse of 33 years, Ann Flather Miles; her mother, Dorothy Elfring; her brothers Gary Elfring (Mary) and David Elfring (Betsy) and their children Adrianne, Matt, Jess, Ana, and Emma; Ann's children Julie Miles (Randy Allworth), Jen McDonald (Jay), and David Miles (Lisa); her beloved grandchildren, Max, Aimee, Sean, Mason, Braxton, Avery, Ryann and Evan; her goddaughter Ryan Seaton-Evans; and her many dear friends. A celebration of Chris's life will be held on Sunday, August 5, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. at Woodend Sanctuary, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to WAMU-FM, National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), or Equality Maryland. Please view and sign guestbook at www.josephgawlers.com