Frank Marks, Director of NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division, believes in serendipity. He jumped at an opportunity to conduct radar research on tropical cyclones for the Division some 30 years ago following a field project in western tropical Africa. There, in Dakar, he had serendipitously met his mentor, Verner E. Suomi, and hasn’t looked back since.
On Wednesday at the Awards Banquet (7 p.m. in the Washington State Convention Center, Hall 6A-B-C-D), the AMS will present Dr. Marks with the Verner E. Suomi Award for creative use of airborne Doppler radar and other technologies to advance the understanding of the dynamics of tropical cyclones. The AMS grants this award annually to individuals in recognition of highly significant technological achievement in the atmospheric or related oceanic and hydrologic sciences.
The Front page sat down with Marks to learn more about him and his career-spanning research. While wrapping up the interview, which you can watch below, he shared this perspective: “When an opportunity presents itself, you take it. That’s how I’ve lived my life.”
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A great interview. I’m confident that this format will provide lots of very interesting first-person interviews that will benefit current researchers and operational meteorologists and, students.