Dr. Walter F. Dabberdt wins the post of AMS President-Elect

Vaisala is proud to announce that Dr. Walter F. Dabberdt, better known as Walt among his colleagues at Vaisala, has won the post of AMS President-Elect. The American Meteorological Society’s leadership position is a four-year commitment, including year 2007 as President-Elect, 2008 as President, 2009 as First Past President, and 2010 as Second Past President.

The AMS President serves as Chair of the AMS Council and its Executive Committee, which function as the governing body of the 13,000-member Society.

The duties and functions of the AMS President are many. They include numerous committee and board meetings, participation in the Annual Meeting Oversight Committee, selection of the recipients of various Graduate Fellowships and Awards, nomination and appointment of candidates to many prestigious roles and awards, and planning the theme and organization of the Annual Meeting held at the end of his year as President, to name but a few.

Walt’s merits in the field of meteorology are impressive. He received his B.S. from the State University of New York Maritime College and his M.S. and Ph.D. (meteorology) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spent 15 years at Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) as Senior Research Meteorologist and another 15 years at The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) as Scientist, Facility Manager, and Associate Director. Most recently, Walt has spent just over six years as the Director of Strategic Research for Vaisala. He serves on and chairs numerous national and international committees and boards and has contributed to various scientific publications, most recently the 2007 UN book Elements for Life.

President’s theme for the AMS 2009 Annual Meeting
Walt has chosen Urban Weather and Climate as the theme for the 89th AMS Annual Meeting, which will be held January 11 – 15, 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona. “Recent events like Katrina, urban floods in Europe, heat waves in London and Chicago, to name only a few, point out the vulnerability of urban populations to high impact weather. Furthermore, climate change and population projections suggest that urban vulnerabilities are likely to increase in the future. These issues call for special attention from the international community,” says Walt.

The sub-themes under the Urban Weather and Climate umbrella include:

  • Measurements in the urban environment
  • Modeling and forecasting for urban areas
  • Observations/studies of high-impact weather in urban environments
  • Geographical-induced effects on urban weather and climate
  • Human and environmental impacts (on, by and/or in the city)
  • Urban implications of climate change and population growth

“In many ways, we are experiencing a golden age for the atmospheric sciences. An evolving global atmospheric observing system has been created, and prediction models have become increasingly skillful. Measurement applications and tools are becoming more and more sophisticated. While recognizing how much has been achieved, we need to concentrate our efforts on unmet needs and opportunities.”

“As important as weather observations and forecasts are today, they will be even more critical in the future, as urban population growth contributes to changes in global and regional climates,” says Walt.

Author: Marikka Metso, Vaisala, Helsinki, Finland