The American Association of State Climatologists (AASC) and the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County (EDC) announced today that the AASC will locate its headquarters and its first full-time executive director in Asheville, NC. The AASC supports the development of science-based climate services that assist in climate-related decisions for the public and private sectors, from community planning to business resiliency and risk mitigation.
Asheville is also home to the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites-North Carolina (CICS-NC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC), and a growing nexus of private-sector climate-related activities, making it a natural choice for the AASC headquarters. The presence of AASC in Asheville will allow all of these organizations expand on existing synergies.
“Having AASC’s Executive Office in Asheville will build even stronger relationships and collaborations between the climate data and scientifically informed decision making on climate resilience,” said Michael Tanner, Director, Center for Weather and Climate at NOAA NCEI.
CICS-NC sees mutual benefits as well. “This partnership between AASC, NCEI, and CICS-NC will improve our collective abilities to understand and meet the growing needs for climate, weather, and environmental data in the public, private, and academic sectors,” added Dr. Otis Brown, Director of the Institute.
Lieutenant-Colonel Glenn Kerr (retired), former commander of the 14th Weather Squadron of the U.S. Air Force has been selected as the AASC’s new Executive Director. Kerr has served in diverse weather and climate-related capacities for the USAF for more than 20 years and holds a Master’s degree in Meteorology.
CICS-NC is pleased to welcome the AASC to Asheville and congratulates Lieutenant-Colonel Kerr on his new position.
A joint press release by AASC and the EDC is available here.