Dr Vanda Grubišić has been named the director of NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML) in Boulder, Colorado.
Grubišić will join one of the world’s preeminent research institutions for monitoring long-term changes in the atmosphere, including those caused by climate change. Grubišić is one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of mesoscale meteorology, which is the study of atmospheric phenomena with typical spatial scales between 6 and 600 miles, including thunderstorms, downslope windstorms, land-sea breezes and squall lines. She previously served as director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) Earth Observing Laboratory, where she was responsible for its scientific strategy, administrative processes and procedures and budgetary planning for more than 10 years.
Steve Thur, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research, said, “Dr Grubišić has led an atmospheric research laboratory recognized around the world for its observational research, field projects and data collection. Her leadership experience and passion for atmospheric research will help the Global Monitoring Laboratory continue to fulfill its mission as one of the leading climate and atmospheric research institutions.”
Grubišić has spent her near 30-year career focused on mesoscale atmospheric dynamics of mountain airflows, which was sparked by curiosity as a child about the legendary bora wind in her native Croatia. In 2015, she was awarded the Spiridon Brusina Medal from the Croatian Society of Natural Sciences in recognition for her accomplishments in the field of meteorology for the research of the mesoscale atmospheric dynamics and wind and precipitation processes over complex terrain.
“Observations and measurements are fundamental to atmospheric and climate sciences,” said Grubišić. “It is a great honor to be at the helm of the laboratory that is world renowned for providing global reference observations and conducting research on processes essential for our understanding of the Earth climate system.”
NOAA’s GML operates four baseline observatories located at Mauna Loa, Hawaii; Barrow, Alaska; the South Pole; and American Samoa. Tens of thousands of atmospheric measurements are collected from sampling sites around the world and analyzed at GML. GML also maintains the Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, a 50-year-old data set of atmospheric measurements that is one of the foundations of international climate research.
Grubišić succeeds former director James Butler who conducted research on climate forcing and ozone depletion for over 30 years and was a regular contributor to international documents on stratospheric ozone depletion, atmospheric chemistry and global warming.
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