CCS Director of Climate & Environmental Hazards program and RSMAS Professor Ben Kirtman,  was named 2019 fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) for his outstanding contributions to weather, water, and climate. He will be recognized during the AMS Annual Meeting on January 9-11, 2019, in Phoenix Arizona.

Kirtman, who has been at the UM Rosenstiel School for over 10 years, is a professor of Atmospheric Sciences and director of the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS).

“This long overdue recognition for Ben reflects his status in our professional society and brings prestige to him, our School and our University,” said Dean of the UM Rosenstiel School Roni Avissar.

Kirtman is a climate modeler who uses complex Earth system models to investigate the predictability of the climate system on time scales from days to decades and to study the influence of tropical variability on mid-latitude predictability. His research is wide-ranging and designed to understand and quantify the limits of climate predictability from days to decades, including understanding how the climate will change in response to changes in man-made and natural forcing.

He was one of the first to develop an El Niño/La Niña prediction system using sophisticated climate models and currently leads a team of government laboratory researchers, academicians, and operational climate forecasters in developing the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) prediction system. This new prediction system has been issuing forecasts in real-time since August 2011, and was instrumental in predicting continuing La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific and the associated impact on climate around the globe. The NMME became an official NOAA operational system in May 2016.

The author of more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, Kirtman was also a coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report and is a member of several national and international scientific panels and working groups.

Kirtman joins UM Rosenstiel School professors and current AMS fellows Brian Soden, Amy Clement, Lynn “Nick” Shay, Roni Avissar, and Bruce Albrecht.

Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the nation’s premier scientific and professional organization promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Our more than 13,000 members include researchers, educators, students, enthusiasts, broadcasters and other professionals in weather, water, and climate.

SOURCE:  UM News & Events Rosenstiel School Professor Named American Meterological Society Fellow