NOAA Announces New Director at Air Resources Laboratory

Steven S. Fine has been named the new director of the NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research laboratory responsible for developing advanced air quality models and studying atmospheric processes that relate to air quality and climate, concentrating on the transport, dispersion, transformation, and removal of trace gases and aerosols.

Fine began his career at NOAA in 2000 and has served the past several years as a physical scientist with NOAA’s Research Office of Weather and Air Quality and NOAA Cooperative Institutes and Laboratories.

During his recent tenure at NOAA, Fine coordinated planning and budgeting for NOAA’s Air Quality Program; led planning for improved hurricane and storm surge forecasting and resilience tools; contributed to planning for a NOAA-wide integrated mercury assessment project; directed the acquisition of a new radar system for NOAA’s hurricane hunter jet to be installed early 2008; and developed agency-wide policy in NOAA’s Office of Program Planning and Integration.

“As a former NOAA research employee of the year, Steven has continually guided funding programs at the Office of Weather and Air Quality in the necessary direction to achieve success,” said Richard Spinrad, assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research. “His knowledge of NOAA programs, planning, and funding requirements have been a great asset to NOAA’s overall mission towards cultivating a greater understanding of our Earth’s environment and meeting our nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs.”

Fine received a master’s degree in computer science in 1988 and a doctorate in meteorology in 1991 from Pennsylvania State University. While attending Penn State, Fine completed his dissertation on wind velocity correction in Doppler wind profiles through the use of a statistical pattern recognition technique to identify inaccuracies.

When initially hired by NOAA, Fine worked closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, leading the development of modeling tools to support cross-media assessments. Prior to his service at NOAA, Fine worked as a research scientist and manager at MCNC Environmental Programs for approximately seven years, and currently has a combined professional experience of nearly 20 years in scientific research and computer sciences. While at MCNC, Steven led teams working on multiple projects, including the Total Risk Integrated Methodology framework and an ozone mapping tool for AIRNOW– A collaborative air quality index network developed by NOAA, EPA, National Park Service, and tribal, state and local agencies.

NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory studies atmospheric processes and develops models that relate to air quality and climate. Research concentrates on technology development as it relates to the transport, dispersion, transformation and removal of trace gases and aerosols, exchanged between the earth’s atmosphere and surface. The goals of the lab’s research include improving prediction of air quality, atmospheric deposition [the measure of select compounds as they settle on the earth’s surface], and related variables.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Relevant Web Sites:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research: http://www.oar.noaa.gov
Air Resources Laboratory: http://www.arl.noaa.gov
Cooperative Institutes: http://www.nrc.noaa.gov/ci
AIRNow: http://www.airnow.gov

Media Contact:
Daniel Parry, NOAA Public Affairs, (301) 734-1092

5/17/07