Philip Gladstone Honored as NOAA Environmental Hero for 2008
April 22, 2008
NOAA has selected Philip Gladstone from Carlisle, Mass. as an Environmental Hero for his support of NOAA’s Citizen Weather Observer Program.
NOAA’s Environmental Hero Awards were established in 1995 to commemorate Earth Day by honoring volunteers who help NOAA carry out its mission — to understand and predict changes in Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our nation’s economic, social and environmental needs. The award program also raises awareness about NOAA’s volunteer programs.
“Thousands of people across the country join forces with NOAA each year and the Environmental Hero award is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to several of those individuals that have made a significant impact,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Philip is an outstanding volunteer — sharing his time, knowledge, and experience with NOAA’s Citizen Weather Observer Program for eight years.”
Gladstone’s efforts have made it possible for the 5,000 citizens who operate personal weather stations to contribute high quality automated weather reports to NOAA in near real-time. These observations are used to improve winter storm warnings, fire weather warnings, flash flood warnings, and land-falling hurricane warnings in addition to public weather forecasts.
During his time supporting the program, Gladstone created the program’s first virtual community which consists of a suite of tools and feedback resources for weather stations maintained by weather volunteers throughout the country. These tools include quality control pages which enable members to self-manage their weather stations’ operation and a list-serve that enables members to interact with other like-minded volunteers and NOAA mentors, thus supporting NOAA’s environmental literacy mission.
“Philip Gladstone recognized the importance of accurate automated weather reports from the core of America’s volunteers to improve all weather and daily forecasts in this country,” said NOAA’s David Helms from the Office of Science and Technology. “Philip was born and raised in England where, according to his father, complaining about the weather is a national pastime. Philip’s grandfather kept rainfall records for the United Kingdom Meteorological Office for fifty years and Philip has definitely inherited his weather genes.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, 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 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
Contact: Marcie Katcher, 631-244-0149