Nevada climatologist to be honored at AGU Fall Meeting for lifetime of public outreach

Kelly Redmond has dedicated his career to understanding the Earth's climate and communicating that knowledge to a general audience.

As deputy director and regional climatologist for the Western Regional Climate Center at Nevada's Desert Research Institute, Redmond has more than three decades of experience in the management, application and dissemination of climate data to the general public.

At its 47th Annual Fall Meeting in San Francisco on December 15-19, 2014 the American Geophysical Union (AGU) will honor Redmond as its 2014 Tyndall History of Global Environmental Change Lecturer. The AGU Fall meeting is the largest worldwide conference in geophysical sciences, attended by nearly 20,000 Earth and space scientists, educators, students and policy makers.

"This is really special to me," said Redmond, a long-time Reno resident who is well-known for his innate ability to describe weather phenomena and climate change to general audiences and policy makers. "You don't get many opportunities like this to present your thoughts on such a grand stage. I am really honored."

The award is named in honor of John Tyndall, a physicist and devoted advocate for explaining science to a broad audience whose measurements in the late 1850s and early 1860s verified the importance of the greenhouse effect. The scientist selected to present the annual lecture, is selected for their outstanding contributions to the understanding of global environmental change.

An expert on human caused climate change and its effects on the western U.S., Redmond's recent work has focused on projects to support the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) – used to generate the U.S. Drought Monitor and Seasonal Drought Outlook on http://www.drought.gov – and the Department of Interior Climate Science Center Program. He is also one of the founders and key coordinators of the Consortium for Integrated Climate Research in Western Mountains (CIRMOUNT), a collaborative, interdisciplinary consortium dedicated to understanding climates and ecosystems of western North American mountains.

"Kelly is all about climate science and communication credibility – not just among our science colleagues, but with everyone else too. If you want to communicate climate knowledge to decision-makers in the Southwest or Western US (or probably anywhere else), there is no better source of know-how or the energy to get it done than Dr. Kelly Redmond," one member of the AGU award nomination committee stated, when asked about Redmond's career.

The Tyndall History of Global Environmental Change focus group named lecture is presented annually at the AGU Fall Meeting, held in San Francisco. The Tyndall Lecture is also webcast and made available as an archived presentation on the AGU website.

Provided by Desert Research Institute