New NOAA Administrator Addresses American Geophysical Union Meeting

In his first public speech since he was sworn in as the new NOAA Administrator, Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher spoke to attendees at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting in San Francisco, CA. In his remarks the Admiral said he will emphasize cooperation between NOAA agencies, government, academia, and the private sector. He will stress performance and results. An agency's track record in managing resources will be a factor in future budget priorities and resource allocation. Projects, he said, must include cost, schedule, milestones, and a clear execution plan. Responding to questions after the speech, Lautenbacher said he will look for inequities in science funding within and external to NOAA, and he will have clear criteria as to how NOAA science funding is allocated.

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American Geophysical Union Honors NWS Hydrologist

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) honored Dr. John Schaake at a special session on December 12 in San Francisco, CA, as part of the group's annual fall meeting. Schaake recently retired from the NWS after more than 30 years of distinguished service to the hydrologic community. His vast influence on hydrologic science ranges from basic scientific developments to advanced operational applications. His work has extended from the detailed measurement of rainfall and runoff for parking lots to the hydrology of climate change. The AGU special session will consist of invited presentations in several areas he has contributed to such as land surface hydrologic modeling, statistical analysis of precipitation, probabilistic approaches to hydrologic forecasting, advanced data assimilation techniques, and water resource applications.

Since 1974, Schaake has served the NWS as Deputy Director of the Hydrologic Research Laboratory, Chief of the Hydrologic Services Division, Deputy Director of the Office of Hydrology, and Senior Scientist for Special Projects. He made numerous advances to hydrologic science individually and through his leadership. He pioneered the highly successful Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment's (GEWEX) first Continental-scale International Project (GCIP). This evolved into the GEWEX Americas Prediction Project (GAPP). He inspired younger colleagues to make important scientific contributions. Schaake recently retired from the National Weather Service, but continues his work as a contractor within the Office of Hydrologic Development, as a co-principal investigator for a project funded by NOAA's Office of Global Programs to support GCIP/GAPP. Schaake also is developing procedures for Ensemble Streamflow Prediction critical to the implementation of Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services.

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On December 1, 2001, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, HI, was renamed the Richard H. Hagemeyer Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, in honor of the former NWS Pacific Region Director who died on October 25, 2001. NWS Director Jack Kelly spoke at the renaming and rededication ceremony along with Delegate to Congress Eni Faleomavaega, representatives from local Congressional offices, and state and local officials. During the ceremony greetings were also read from U.S. Senators Daniel K. Akaka and Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. Congressman Neil Abercrombie, and Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano.

"Dick was a fixture here, well known and respected," said Jack Kelly. "He was a dedicated and energetic public servant. He will be sorely missed."

During his remarks, Kelly presented Helen Hagemeyer with a bound version of anecdotes contributed by the NWS family to the "Hagemeyer Memories" web site. The ceremony also included a talk by Jeanne Johnston, a survivor of the 1946 Tsunami that killed more than 150 people and destroyed Hilo Bay.

Photographs of the ceremony can be seen by following this link.

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About 40 young students from Cheyenne, WY, got a good day's worth of exposure to careers in the atmospheric science on December 5, 2001, during a field trip to the Boulder, CO, area.

The tour was the latest leg in the NOAA/NWS-sponsored Women in Science program co-founded in Cheyenne by Bill Parker, the Meteorologist-in-Charge at WFO Cheyenne, and Paul Crips, a highly creative and energetic science teacher at Cheyenne's Carey Junior High School. The program aims at holding periodic forums where accomplished women scientists come to Cheyenne to meet, inspire, and possibly mentor the young women. This time the group of budding scientists included 10 young men. "The young women say they do not believe in glass ceilings!" said Meteorologist Joanne Swanson, the NWS's staff member in NOAA's Program Coordination Office who accompanied the group on the trip.

Swanson said many of these students already have an interest in a scientific career. "Those who aren't yet 'hooked' on a particular field are exposed to the possibilities of a career in science, and any negative opinions of scientific careers in general and for women in particular are set straight by the success stories."

In Boulder, the group toured several science facilities, visiting NOAA's research laboratories, followed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES) at Colorado State University.

At NOAA's Skaggs Building, the group's itinerary organized by Ann Bradford of NOAA Research included the daily weather briefing as given by Tom Lefebvre of Forecast Systems Lab. They also toured the Space Environment Center with host Larry Combs, and Tom Conway showed them around the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory.

The NCAR visit was hosted by Rene Mumoz. The young students toured the building with its grand displays of atmospheric phenomena, and were addressed by Wendy Abshire, a meteorologist of the genuine passion kind - a storm chaser turned operational meteorology instructor, a "what, you're going to pay me to do weather?" person turned educator with an eye on Washington politics. "Wendy delighted the audience and provided further evidence that not all of us scientists wear lab coats and don't smile!" said Swanson.

NCAR pulled out the stops and allowed the group to view the simulations in the 3-D visualization laboratory. "Ooohs" and "Wows" came not only from the young students, but may have been loudest from the adult "young-at-heart" scientists and meteorologists in the audience, said Swanson. "We witnessed impressive simulations of thunderstorm development, clear air turbulence and wildfires."

For their final stop at CIRES, the young scientists were hosted by a panel of four doctoral-level women involved in research including the CIRES director, Dr. Susan Avery. "Paul Sperry of CIRES was very gracious in putting this part of the tour together," said Swanson. "The young women in particular had many probing questions for the preeminent scientists on the panel, many having to do with achieving success in what is perceived as a man's world in science."

Photographs from the December 5, 2001, visit are available by following this link. Read more about the WIS program at these URLs:

• NOAA's NWS Focus article http://205.156.54.206/com/fs051101.htm#Women
• NOAA News article http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s665.htm

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Rural Utilities Service Puts Weather Radio Transmitter Grant Program Info and List Online

The Rural Utilities Service has placed on its web site - http://www.usda.gov/rus/ - additional information regarding its Weather Radio Transmitter Grant Program, including a list of all grant recipients to date. According to Craig Wulf, program advisor for the RUS Telecommunications Program, the address for the specific site is http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/initiatives/noaa/weatherradio.htm and the details are obtained by clicking on the heading "Download the List of Weather Radio Transmitter Grant Program Awards [New]." The information is available in two formats: .doc (Microsoft Word) and .pdf (Adobe Acrobat). "Feel free to use this information to promote this great program," Wulf added.

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NOAA Weather Radio Is a Life-Saving Gift

In a recent release, NWS Public Affairs is reminding everyone that NOAA Weather Radios make great holiday gifts. See the full story by following this link.

In addition, special pricing is available for Federal employees on several models of NOAA Weather Radio receivers. For information and pricing, visit www.weathertools.com/gsa and www.weatherradio.com/gsa.

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Employee Milestones

NEW APPOINTMENTS
NAME	OFFICE	TITLE	EFFECTIVE DATE	NOTE
Graham, Kenneth	WFO Birmingham, AL	MIC	11/08/01	Former MIC at WFO Corpus Christi, TX
McIntyre, Buddy	WFO San Angelo, TX	MIC	11/04/01	Former WCM at WFO San Angelo, TX
RETIREMENTS
NAME	OFFICE	TITLE	EFFECTIVE DATE	NOTE
Johns, Robert	NCEP Storm Prediction Center	SOO	11/03/01	39 1/2 years service
Matejka, Shirley	WFO San Angelo, TX	MIC	11/03/01	35 years service

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