Farewell, Dr. Peter Lamb—A Lion for Climate Research

 
Published: 30 May 2014
Pete Lamb

A valued friend and colleague, ARM Facility pioneer, and site scientist for the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) site for many years, Dr. Peter Lamb passed away unexpectedly but peacefully at his home on May 28 at the age of 66. His contributions and many friendships throughout the ARM Facility and scientific community are a testament to his passion and dedication to climate research.

A native of New Zealand, Lamb joined The University of Oklahoma in 1991 as a full Professor in its School of Meteorology, and Director of the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMMS). He received a George Lynn Cross Research Professorship in 2001, which is The University of Oklahoma’s highest research honor. He was a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and was completing a term on the AMS Council at the time of his passing.

Lamb was a key member of the science team for the first and only deployment of the ARM Mobile Facility in Africa to date, for the RADAGAST field campaign, located in Niamey, Niger, in 2006. His research interest in North Africa’s Subsaharan rainfall was notable in securing the field campaign, and he continued to foster that progress through collaborations with the University of Niamey. He recently attended a kick-off meeting for a European Union project designed to complement continuing scientific interest in West African climate research, and was planning to return to Niamey, and nearby Burkina Faso, in June to pursue these research possibilities.

A persistent and vocal advocate for the ARM Facility, Lamb took time to participate in site visits and ARM outreach activities whenever his schedule allowed, sporting his University of Oklahoma gear with pride.

During the past several years, he helped lead a series of U.S.-China Symposiums on Meteorology, and recently completed a chapter about the SGP site for an upcoming AMS Meteorological Monograph covering the first 20 years of the ARM program.

He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. We invite you to share your memories of him on ARM’s Facebook page.