Snapshots: New NSF director, NCAR Annual Report, weather-maker interactive map
Mar 3, 2011 - by Staff
Subra Suresh, NSF's new director.
NSF director Subra Suresh, now in his first full year at his new post, is getting acquainted with the atmospheric and related sciences. Suresh was sworn in as the 13th NSF director on 18 October 2010. A mechanical engineer interested in materials science and biology, Suresh pioneered research to understand the mechanical properties of materials. His most recent research tackled the biomechanics of red blood cells under the influence of diseases such as malaria. He has authored more than 230 research articles and has been elected to seven science and engineering academies. Suresh is planning a two-day visit to NCAR in June.
A wide variety of research and related activities carried out over the past year is summarized in the NCAR Annual Report, now available online. The report includes key accomplishments in five thematic areas, a summary of metrics on the breadth and depth of NCAR’s work, and a message from director Roger Wakimoto. Also included are reports from NCAR’s component laboratories, as well as its Advanced Study Program and Integrated Science Program.
The Indian Ocean Dipole, El Niño and La Niña, the Northern and Southern Annular Modes, and a variety of other global and regional patterns are covered in UCAR’s Weather-Maker Patterns: An Interactive Map. The site explains the basic workings of each mode of variability, with illustrations drawn from community resources. A print-friendly version is included, along with a more extensive glossary of weather-making patterns.