ucar staff notes6069/datastream/… · polar regions. more > project budburst to debut in a new...

UCAR Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/[5/9/2013 1:38:34 PM]

Ice crystals on thistle shotearly one morning at Saw

Hill Ponds. (Photo byCarlye Calvin.)

International Polar Year kicks off this month

UCAR/NCAR researchers participate ininternational effort to study Earth’spolar regions. More >

Project BudBurst to debutIn a new campaign managed by EO, citizen-scientists head outdoors to observe thesigns of spring and gather data related to climate change. More >

GLOBE at Night

Short TakesNCAR to partner with World Bank in Latin America and the Caribbean; A new tool foremergency helicopter pilots; Mapping the structure of Sun-like stars; UCAR offersmore Web resources en español. More >

Denise Stephenson Hawk joins SERE As the newest associate director of NCAR, Denise Stephenson Hawk took the helmof the Societal-Environmental Research and Education Laboratory in January. Hergoal is to link research, policy, and education. More >

An interview with Katy SchmollThis is the second in a series of Staff Notes Monthly updates to keep staff apprisedof the competition for the management of NCAR. More >

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UCAR Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/[5/9/2013 1:38:34 PM]

Mesa Lab a medieval castle?The Mesa Lab was named “Best Research Center” in an architectural contest by Go,an in-flight magazine published for AirTran Airways. More >

CHATS gets REAL. A truck carrying NCAR’s Raman-shifted Eye-safe Aerosol Lidar(REAL) prepares for a road trip from Foothills Lab to a walnut orchard in northernCalifornia. Researchers are using REAL during the Canopy Horizontal ArrayTurbulence Study (CHATS) field campaign that runs March 15–June 15. Theirobjective is to measure winds and turbulence across the walnut orchard, whichfunctions as a uniformly vegetated canopy. (Photo by Carlye Calvin.)

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International Polar Year kicks off this month - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/polar.shtml[5/9/2013 1:39:31 PM]

Scientists involved with International Polar Year will probe icy waters such asthese off the coast of Antarctica. (Photo courtesy Gary Herbert.)

March 2007


UCAR/NCAR researchers participate in international effortto study Earth’s polar regions

For the next twoyears, all things coldwill be consideredvery cool.

International PolarYear officially beganon March 1 with alaunch ceremony inParis. Sponsored bythe InternationalCouncil for Scienceand the WorldMeteorologicalOrganization, IPY isthe largestinternationallycoordinated scientificresearch effort ofthe past 50 years.Bringing togethermore than 50,000researchers from 63nations working on 228 projects, the program aims to monitor the health of Earth’spolar regions and gauge the impact of climate change. It runs for two years, givingresearchers more opportunity to observe the full cycle of seasons at each pole.

Specific projects are as diverse as analyzing the effects of solar radiation on the polaratmosphere, taking a census of deep-sea creatures in the polar oceans, quantifying theamount of fresh water leaking from underneath ice sheets in Antarctica, and examiningthe culture and politics of the Arctic’s human inhabitants. Many of the projects aredriven by a sense of urgency that warming temperatures due to climate change aretransforming the Arctic in irreversible ways.

UCAR/NCAR scientists and researchers are already lending their expertise to IPYactivities. A number of staffers were recently involved with Ice Fest, a community-wideevent sponsored by CU-Boulder that ran March 8–11 to kick off IPY. Marika Holland(ESSL/CGD) gave a presentation on Arctic sea ice change; Caspar Ammann (alsoESSL/CGD) spoke about ice in the mountains of Chile’s Atacama desert, Earth’s driest;and Bob Henson (Communications), author of The Rough Guide to Climate Change,participated in the “Making a Difference” panel discussion. EO also staffed a booth onIce Fest Family Day.

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On March 5, GLOBE hosted a pole-to-pole videoconference, during which GLOBEstudents in Alaska exchanged research ideas and interacted with GLOBE students inUshuaia, the Antarctic region on the southern tip of Argentina. “We had a lot of gooddiscussion between the students from each pole as well as students asking questionsand talking with scientists,” says GLOBE director Ed Geary.

During GLOBE-sponsored Web chats on March 7 and 8, students were able to talkamong themselves and ask questions about climate change and polar science, as wellas post questions and ideas on an IPY Web forum to be answered by scientists.

Also as part of GLOBE’s IPY activities, Peggy LeMone is writing a Chief Scientist’s Blog(see “On the Web”) to discuss climate change and IPY-related topics. “One of theexciting things about the poles is that it’s where the biggest climate changes are takingplace,” Peggy says.

Windows to the Universe, EO’s vast and colorful educational Web site covering Earthand space sciences, launched a new portal on March 1 called Earth’s Polar Regions (see“On the Web”), with links to topics such as geography and geology at the poles, thecryosphere, polar oceans, and Arctic culture. The site includes a “Postcards from theField” component from a scientist studying how Adelie penguins in Antarctica are copingwith climate.

“We wanted to do something fun for IPY, and it was an area of Windows to theUniverse we had not yet explored,” says EO’s Lisa Gardiner, who developed content forthe new polar section of the site.

In addition, EO is at work developing polar-related hands-on activities anddemonstrations that will be unveiled later this year in the Mesa Lab Visitor Center,along with IPY-related classroom materials for educators. A new NASA-produced video,“A Tour of the Cryosphere,” will begin showing in the lobby theater later this spring.

And in COMET, staffers are laying the groundwork for a Webcast this summer that willfeature interviews with polar scientists. “We’ll talk with several scientists who are doingcutting-edge research, and we’ll learn what tools they use, what issues are driving theirwork, and what they see as exciting future areas for investigation in this fascinatingand unique location,” says COMET’s Vickie Johnson.

Polar researchers

A number of UCAR/NCAR scientists have long been involved in polar– relatedresearch.

Marika Holland (ESSL/CGD) studies sea ice and its role in the climatesystem. She and colleagues recently published research showing that theextent of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean could undergo surprisingly rapidreductions in the future due to the buildup of greenhouse gases in theatmosphere.

David Lawrence (ESSL/CGD) uses the Community Climate System Model tostudy permafrost and how changes to permafrost interact with the rest of theclimate system. He coauthored a 2005 study that found that much of theArctic’s near-surface permafrost could thaw by 2100.

Jordan Powers (ESSL/MMM) is NCAR’s project lead for the AntarcticMesoscale Prediction System (AMPS), a real-time weather prediction systemdesigned specially for Antarctica’s extreme polar environment. The model hashelped facilitate medical evacuations and other rescues from Antarctica,including the rescue of scientists and crew from the Magdalena Oldendorff, asupply ship that became trapped in ice along the Antarctic coast in 2002.

Shannon McNeeley (ISSE), a graduate student at the University of Alaska–Fairbanks and ISSE visiting scientist, is carrying out a project in community-



based research to document Alaska Natives’ observations of climate change.Her goal is to gain climatic insights into a remote and little-studied region thathas been significantly affected by warming temperatures, and to understandissues of vulnerability and adaptive capacity of interior Alaska Natives. OtherISSE scientists are also studying human-climate interactions in the polarregions.

On the Web

International Polar Year

IPY at NCAR

IPY at GLOBE

Peggy LeMone’s Chief Scientist Blog

Windows to the Universe: Earth’s Polar Regions

In this issue...


Project BudBurst to debutGLOBE at Night

Short Takes

Denise Stephenson Hawk joins SERE

An interview with Katy Schmoll

Mesa Lab a medieval castle?

Just One Look

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Project BudBurst to debut - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/budburst.shtml[5/9/2013 1:39:46 PM]

UCAR photographer Carlye Calvin took this photo of a Pasqueflower near Nederland. Pasque flowers grow at a variety ofelevations, usually in dry, open, rocky areas. The flowerheads on this early bloomer can appear when patches ofsnow are still present. The word Pasque comes from paschal,Hebrew for Passover, as the flower usually blooms aroundthe time of Passover and Easter.

March 2007

Project BudBurst to debut

In a new campaign managed by EO, citizen-scientists head outdoors to observethe signs of spring and gather data related to climate change.

Cultures around the world have usedphenology, the study of climate-related cyclical patterns in plants andanimals, since ancient times to trackthe natural world and organize thehuman one. In Japan and China, forexample, the blossoming of cherryand peach trees is associated withancient festivals, some of whosedates can be traced back as far as974 BCE.

For three months this spring, childrenand families will continue thelongstanding tradition of phenologyby heading outdoors to observe thebudding, leafing, and blooming oftrees and flowers as part of anational “citizen science” fieldcampaign. By recording theirobservations via the Internet,participants will add to the growingbody of data on climate change.

Called Project BudBurst, thecampaign is managed by EO inconjunction with the Chicago BotanicGarden and a number of otherresearch and academic organizations.Funding for the 2007 inaugural eventwas provided by the U.S. Bureau ofLand Management.

“We’re hoping to build moreawareness of the importance ofphenology as a field of investigation,make a link to climate change, andget kids and families outside observing their environment,” says EO’s SandraHenderson.

Project BudBurst begins in April and runs through June. The campaign is gearedtowards students and teachers, families, scouts, 4-H groups, gardening clubs, and

























others with an interest in observing the timing of phenological events.

“One of the neat things about phenology is that you don’t need any sophisticatedequipment,” says EO’s Kirsten Meymaris.

To take part in Project Budburst, participants first select a tree or flower to observe andbegin checking it several weeks prior to its average budburst date (the point when budscales have opened and leaves are visible). They continue to observe the tree or flowerfor subsequent phenological events, such as first leaf and flower bloom, and record thedates. When they submit their records online, they can view maps of these phenologicalevents across the United States.p> Phenological records are an important part ofclimate change research. Some plant species are responding to warmer temperaturesby sustaining longer growing seasons. Others are shifting their ranges toward the polesor to higher elevations. Such changes could have major impacts on timing-sensitiverelationships with insects that pollinate and disperse seeds and with herbivores, leadingto a decoupling of events that have long occurred in synchrony. Particularly vulnerableto climate change are species with limited ranges and dispersal abilities. One of thefirst steps toward conserving plant species threatened by climate change is toimplement local monitoring programs that measure how climate change is affectingthese plants.

On the Web

More about Project Budburst, including how to participate

GLOBE at Night

In another citizen science project, GLOBE, EO, and Windows to the Universeare again sponsoring GLOBE at Night, an annual campaign to encourageschoolchildren around the world to gaze skyward after dark, looking forspecific constellations and then sharing their observations on the Internet. Thecampaign, which runs March 8–21, is helping scientists map light pollutionaround the world while educating participants about the stars.

An official Star Hunting Party took place on March 8 at the Mesa Lab to kickoff the GLOBE at Night event, giving children, families, and citizen-scientists achance to observe the skies above Boulder and learn more about a particularconstellation, Orion.

During the 2006 event, more than 18,000 people from 96 countries on allcontinents except Antarctica reported more than 4,500 observations. Thecampaign was extended an extra week this year to improve the odds thatchildren around the world have at least one cloud-free night.

Learn more about GLOBE at Night.

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Short Takes



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Just One Look













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Short takes - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/shorttakes.shtml[5/9/2013 1:40:15 PM]

March 2007

An overview of projects throughout the organization

NCAR to partner with World Bank in Latin America and the Caribbean. NCARsigned an agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development,an institution of the World Bank, on February 14. Under the agreement, NCAR willprovide technology transfer, training, computer infrastructure, and other tools forassessing weather and climate change impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean. Theregion is increasingly suffering from economic, environmental, and societal losses dueto climate-change–related weather events such as floods and droughts.

The idea was hatched when Lawrence Buja (ESSL/CGD) met two World Bankengineers at a conference in Bogotá, Colombia, while presenting climate change resultsfrom the Community Climate System Model. “As we talked, it became apparent that ourtwo groups have very similar goals, basically to make the world a better place,” hesays. “We saw a clear opportunity to apply NCAR’s expertise in climate change andregional modeling to assist the World Bank’s sustainable development programs in theregion.”

Through collaboration with scientists in Latin America and the Caribbean, NCAR willshare its scientific, educational, and technical expertise, as well as the organization’sweather and climate models and computer systems. The World Bank, in turn, willprovide expertise on societal issues and financial support for the projects, as well asleverage its contacts in Latin America and the Caribbean.

As an example of how the agreement will benefit the region, Lawrence describes achain of high-altitude glaciers associated with Peru’s Quelccaya Ice Cap. Below theseglaciers lie watersheds with hydroelectric dams supplying nearby population centerswith water and power; below the dams are large agricultural regions. As globaltemperatures rise, the glaciers are melting quickly and are expected to be depletedsometime in the next 5–10 years, leaving many thousands of people without reliablewater and power.

The World Bank is helping Peru develop alternative energy and water sources. As acritical part of the planning and funding, Peruvian planners need an estimate of howsoon the glaciers will disappear, which is where NCAR enters the picture.

“While NCAR doesn’t have the mission or personnel to look specifically at this question,the goal is to provide scientists from the region with training and access to our scienceand computing power, enabling them to address real-world problems such as thisthemselves,” Lawrence says.

If the pilot agreement is successful, he adds, it could be extended around the world.UCAR/NCAR programs and staff interested in taking part in the collaboration areencouraged to contact Lawrence (ext. 1330).

A new tool for emergency helicopter pilots. As part of RAL’s Aviation Digital Data

















mailto:[email protected]









Services (ADDS) program, Greg Thompson and colleagues have released a Java-basedsoftware tool for helicopter pilots in the emergency medical services community.

Emergency helicopter pilots typically fly at low levels (under 5,000 feet) on short-notice, short-distance missions. These routes can easily fall between weather stations,leaving pilots without weather data on a small enough scale to see conditions between,for example, an accident site and a hospital. “If Flight for Life has to take off and picksomeone up where no weather data are available, they’re stuck between a rock and ahard place not knowing what the weather is along the way,” Greg explains.

But with the help of RAL’s HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Services) Low AltitudeFlight Tool, emergency personnel are no longer limited to data from weather stations.The software allows pilots to view additional, comprehensive weather data generated byRAL’s Ceiling and Visibility Product Development Team, with satellite imagery to fill inthe gaps. They can even zoom in to see the location of a hospital. By showing pilotsweather conditions between stations, the software may help them decide if it’s unsafeto fly.

“It really helps them with a no-go decision because they may see something that tellsthem not to take the flight,” Greg says.

Funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, HEMS has been running since November1, 2006. It covers the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) and parts of Canadaand Mexico. According to Greg, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, withemergency personnel even writing to describe how HEMS has helped their decision-making processes.

More about HEMS.

Applying WRF to West Africa. Postdoctoral researcher Benjamin Lamptey (ASP/RAL)recently returned from Ghana, where he set up a computer at the country’s nationalweather service for the specific purpose of storing weather data that RAL researcherswill be able to access remotely.

Benjamin and colleagues in RAL are working to adapt the Weather Research andForecasting model (WRF) for use in West Africa. Since last year, the team has beengathering observational data, running the model in real time, verifying output, andmaking improvements.

One of their biggest challenges is obtaining timely weather reports from the region, asthey are unable to get enough local, real-time data for West Africa from the WorldMeteorological Organization’s Global Telecommunication System. Benjamin is workingwith contacts throughout West Africa to have other nations send weather data toGhana, where the computer he set up will serve as a clearinghouse, making it easierfor the RAL team to get data in real time.

As one of the most powerful mesoscale models in the world, WRF can be run at veryhigh resolution, making it an ideal tool for countries to address their specific needs,such as application to water resources or agriculture. For example, a WRF forecast mayhelp farmers in West Africa identify the best times to plant and harvest their crops.

The RAL researchers hope that forecasters and the applications community will use andevaluate the West African WRF system so they can get feedback on the model’scapabilities and make further improvements.

“By running WRF for West Africa, we’re showing its ability to provide weatherinformation in support of decision making at relevant scales. This will appeal to theapplications community and should attract more people to use WRF for very specificneeds,” Benjamin says. “More people will get training in how to use it, and countrieswill become better equipped to run it.”

Mapping the structure of Sun-like stars. Satellite missions in the next few years areexpected to provide a wealth of data about our galaxy and its numerous stars. This will

http://weather.aero/hems



UCAR’s Spanish translators, Marina LaGrave (EO) and David Russi (COMET).

create challenges for astronomers who attempt to map the structures of Sun-like starsby using asteroseismology—the study of seismic waves that propagate deep into theinterior of pulsating stars and reveal information through variations in light andvelocity. Astronomers currently study one star at a time by trying to match its pulsationdata with output from computer models, which is a cumbersome and time-consumingprocess that may fail to keep up with new satellite data.

Travis Metcalfe (CISL/HAO) has developed a computational method known as aparallel genetic algorithm to enable scientists to rapidly map the structures of dozens oreven hundreds of Sun-like stars. The algorithm is designed to probe the broad range ofpossible characteristics of a star, thereby enabling a scientist to create an optimalmodel of the star more efficiently. Travis is running the algorithm on the Blue Gene/Lsupercomputer at the Mesa Lab, a specialized machine that is perfect for thischallenging application because it can run a large number of models simultaneously onmore than 2,000 processors.

Gathering information about Sun-like stars throughout the galaxy will help scientistsbetter understand the fundamental forces that power the Sun. Scientists also hope tolearn about how stars like our Sun evolve over time, establishing a broader context forour understanding of solar physics.

UCAR offers moreWeb resources enespañol. EO andCOMET have steppedup their efforts totranslate more Webresources intoSpanish.

Much of EO’stranslation efforts todate have centeredon Windows to theUniverse, amultilayered guide toEarth and planetarysciences thataccounts for morethan half of thetraffic on UCARservers. Led by chieftranslator MarinaLaGrave, EO hastranslated about75% of the site intoSpanish. Of theroughly 16 millionusers who visit Windows to the Universe each year, more than a quarter now head forthe Spanish pages.

There’s also a fair bit of cross-visitation, according to EO director Roberta Johnson.“Because you can easily switch from English to Spanish or vice versa, there are peopleusing the site to learn both languages,” she says. With this in mind, EO is translatingand building glossaries and a dictionary to help bridge English and Spanish materials onthe site and facilitate reading and language acquisition.

Meanwhile, COMET’s David Russi, the program’s first full-time translator, has producedSpanish versions of all of COMET’s top-level MetEd pages and has translated 15modules. This summer, COMET will release a distance learning course on basichydrologic science in both English and Spanish at roughly the same time. David hasalso translated two of COMET’s modules on the GOES-10 satellite, which was recently



repositioned to monitor Central and South America.

Although most of COMET’s modules are intended for forecasters, they are popular aseducational resources for college and even high school students eager to learn abouttopics such as rip currents and mesoscale convective systems.

Terminology is a particular focus of COMET’s translation efforts. The new Spanishlanguage resource page available on MetEd provides access to external glossaries anddictionaries in Spanish and English. In addition, COMET is translating its own glossariesto help bridge English and Spanish materials.

Visit COMET’s Spanish language page.

Windows to the Universe in Spanish.

In this issue...



Short Takes




Just One Look



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Denise Stephenson Hawk joins SERE - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/denise.shtml[5/9/2013 1:41:01 PM]

Denise Stephenson Hawk.

March 2007


As the newest associate director ofNCAR, Denise Stephenson Hawktook the helm of the Societal-Environmental Research andEducation Laboratory in January.Her goal is to link research, policy,and education.

“If I could define the ideal positionfor myself, then this would be it,”says Denise, who has ampleexperience working with bothphysical and social scientists.Before coming to NCAR, she wasthe founding director of theinterdisciplinary Earth SystemsScience Program at Clark AtlantaUniversity, which involved thenatural and social sciences as wellas the humanities. A physicalscientist herself, she also served asprofessor and interim chair of ClarkAtlanta’s physics department.

Also on Denise’s résumé areleadership posts in academia (sheserved as provost for SpelmanCollege, her alma mater) and industry (at AT&T Bell Laboratories), as well as senior-level consulting on federal transportation programs and extensive service on nationaladvisory councils and committees.

Denise’s first contact with NCAR came during her undergraduate years at Spelman,when she attended a talk by NCAR scientist Warren Washington. “Warren focused onthe dynamics of climate change and the ways that the traditional disciplines ofmathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology contributed to our understanding ofweather and climate,” she recalls. The talk was a life-changing event for Denise, whodecided to shift from mathematics to environmental modeling. She went on to becomethe first African American and the second woman to earn a doctorate in geophysicalfluid dynamics at Princeton University.

Denise points to Hurricane Katrina as a classic example of how interdisciplinaryresearch on weather and climate can serve the nation. “Regardless of the degree ofaccuracy of the predictions of the storm’s track or its intensity, Katrina was still adisaster of huge proportions,” she says. “Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Floyd highlightthe need for SERE and the urgency of its research.”























Denise Stephenson Hawk joins SERE - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/denise.shtml[5/9/2013 1:41:01 PM]

SERE’s work on the Earth system includes the study of human-environment interactionsand the generation of policy-relevant guidance on weather and climate topics. One ofSERE’s goals is to examine the ways in which social science can help citizens,governments, and businesses grapple with the challenges of weather and climatechange.

In this issue...



Short Takes




Just One Look
















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An interview with Katy Schmoll - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/schmoll.shtml[5/9/2013 1:41:10 PM]

Katy Schmoll.

March 2007


This is the second in a series of StaffNotes Monthly updates to keep staffapprised of the competition for themanagement of NCAR. As mostpeople are probably aware, NSF hasissued a request for proposals, andUCAR is in the process of preparing itssubmission. In this column, KatySchmoll, vice president for financeand administration, talks to LucyWarner about the process and how itmight affect staff. They also welcomeindividual questions, which can beemailed to Katy.

Lucy: Tell us a little about what’sgoing on. Who is preparing theresponse and what will it say?Katy: There is a small group—including the President’s Council and ahandful of key staff members—drafting a preliminary proposal inresponse to the NSF request forproposals. For those who are curious,the solicitation is posted on the NSFWeb site (see “On the Web”). Ourresponse is due on April 13. Lucy: Will staff be able to see the proposal?Katy: No. Because there may be competitors, our proposal will be confidential andproprietary.Lucy: I know you’ve already sent a memo to staff about this, but explain again howcompetitors get their information and how staff should respond if they are contacted.Katy: All requests for information about UCAR and NCAR operations should be directedto Kristin Spencer at NSF ([email protected]). She’s in the Division of Acquisition andCooperative Support, and it’s her job to relay questions to me if she needs UCARsupport in developing answers. There are strict rules governing this kind of bidding andit is important to follow the protocols. The answers to any questions received areprovided to all potential bidders.Lucy: So what are staff supposed to do if they get a call they suspect is related to thecompetition?Katy: It’s possible that staff might be contacted directly for information about thingslike our salary ranges or our policies. Those questions should be directed to NSF andstaff should absolutely not answer them.Lucy: So are you saying staff can’t help with any competing bids?

















mailto:[email protected]







An interview with Katy Schmoll - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/schmoll.shtml[5/9/2013 1:41:10 PM]

Katy: No. Staff are free to help with a competing proposal under certain conditions.They can’t disclose proprietary information like indirect rates or salary ranges. However,they can work on the other aspects of management proposals. Since we are all UCARemployees, working on a proposal that competes with UCAR’s falls under the Conflict ofInterest Policy (1-1-4). In accordance with policy, anyone in this situation has to notifyme by submitting a written disclosure through his or her supervisor up the chain ofcommand to the relevant member of the President’s Council. Any work done with acompetitor must be done on the employee’s own time, either outside of work hours orusing PTO or vacation time. Any activity of this kind cannot involve the use of UCAR orgovernment resources, including computers.Lucy: Doesn’t that give UCAR an unfair advantage?Katy: It shouldn’t. Those of us who are working on the UCAR proposal can’t usegovernment funds either.Lucy: So have you been notified of anyone other than UCAR preparing a proposal? Katy: No.Lucy: Will we know?Katy: Actually we may never officially know unless the competition comes down to acontest between official finalists.Lucy: And when would that be?Katy: Well, as I said, the preliminary proposals are due April 13. A full proposal will bedue August 31. At that point, only submitters who have successfully completed the firstphase will be considered.Lucy: And when will we know the outcome?Katy: Probably in late spring of 2008. The new management period starts October 1,2008.Lucy: Rick [UCAR president Rick Anthes] has said he’s taking this process seriously butthat staff shouldn’t be worried. Would you agree with that?Katy: Absolutely. We’ve laid a lot of groundwork for this proposal in the last year andwe’ve got a strong record on which to base our plans for the coming five years. We’rein a very strong position. But, as Rick said, we are not taking this for granted.•

On the Web

Competition for the Management and Operation of the National Center for AtmosphericResearch

In this issue...



Short Takes




Just One Look



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Mesa Lab a medieval castle? - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/mesa.shtml[5/9/2013 1:41:30 PM]

Meas Lab.

March 2007


The Mesa Lab wasnamed “BestResearch Center” inan architecturalcontest by Go, an in-flight magazinepublished for AirTranAirways. Accordingto the magazine:“Nestled into thefoothills of the RockyMountains inBoulder, legendaryarchitect I.M. Pei’simpressive complexrises like a medievalcastle from its subtlylandscapedsurroundings. Thecenter is covered ina rough, red-brownconcrete finish,evoking both the stone mesas of the desert and the hand-hewn cave dwellings of earlyindigenous peoples.”

In fact, the ancestral Puebloan people (also called the Anasazi) of southwest Coloradowhose architecture inspired Pei lived not in caves but in multistory, apartment-style cliffhomes built into sandstone. Some of their remarkable dwellings were accessible only byrope or rock climbing. And the Flatirons’ subtle landscaping is purely au natural. Butwe’re still proud of the honor.

In this issue...



Short Takes




























Mesa Lab a medieval castle? - Staff Notes

http://www.ucar.edu/communications/staffnotes/0703/mesa.shtml[5/9/2013 1:41:30 PM]


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ucar staff notes6069/datastream/… · polar regions. more > project budburst to debut in a new...

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