Spotlight on: Dave Stensrud

Thousands of pink flamingos in the spring, and as many pumpkins in the fall covered Bascom Hill in Madison, Wisconsin. The Statue of Liberty (appearing to be mostly submerged) rested on the ice of Lake Mendota in the winter. Huge Halloween, Oktoberfest, and toga parties--all funded with student fees--this was the era of the infamous "Pail and Shovel" party that ran the student government during Dave Stensrud's years at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He says it was a fun and diverse school, and with all the distractions he still managed to graduate with his B.A. in Meteorology and Math in four years.

His journey from his home in Minnesota to his current residence in Oklahoma took him through Madison, WI for undergraduate work, Salt Lake City, UT for an internship at the NWS-Western Region, then to Penn State for his M.S. in meteorology. Dave came to Oklahoma when he was hired by Ed Kessler in 1986 to pursue numerical weather prediction--a new direction for the mostly radar-based NSSL. Dave valued the independence and support offered by NSSL to lead his own career, pursue his own research agenda, and continue his education. After a few years at NSSL, he returned to Penn State for one year to start his Ph.D. and completed it in 1992 while working at NSSL. He was one of the first modelers at the lab.

Dave now leads the Models and Assimilation Team at NSSL. His work includes investigating the potential uses of short-range model ensembles in forecasting severe weather events. The public service aspect of his work--knowing that his work will benefit severe weather forecasting--is very important to Dave. He feels his biggest success has been to help emphasize the necessity of model diversity in ensemble forecasting. What he didn't mention as his biggest success was the prestigious "White House Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers" he received in 1996. It is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government upon outstanding scientists and engineers at the beginning of their careers. Dave is also adjunct faculty at OU, teaching a graduate level mesoscale modeling course once every two years. He particularly enjoys interacting with the students on their research topics.

Growing up as a Boy Scout, and achieving Eagle Scout rank, Dave braved Minnesota weather to go "winter camping" (I didn't know people did that!); he had always loved the outdoors and was especially fascinated by the weather. He enjoys jazz music and reading. He stays busy with his family: his wife Audrey, and children Matthew (15) and Caitlin (11). He is an assistant scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop 792 and an elder in the Presbyterian Church where he teaches middle school youth. Dave believes vacations are good for the soul. He and his family go "anywhere interesting", and rarely to the same place twice.

by Susan Cobb