Outstanding Contribution Award for Frank Beyrich

– honoured for his commitment to develop and enhance the session programme –

The European Meteorological Society (EMS) has chosen Frank Beyrich, DWD, as the recipient of the EMS Outstanding Contribution Award 2021.

Frank Beyrich is honoured for his relentless activity as the Programme Stream Moderator for Understanding Weather and Climate Processes. Throughout, Frank has been committed to developing and enhancing the session programme in a way that takes account of new directions and upcoming trends in research and applications. He has provided a broad view of the portfolio of sessions and has worked in consultation with all convenors of the Programme Stream – always with an open ear for all requirements and suggestions – for a clear allocation of topics and articulation of sessions. He has been fully devoted to a process of involvement based on an open and clear communication of the goals, the process and his views.

Frank is the Head of the Boundary-Layer Processes Section at Meteorologisches Observatorium Lindenberg – Richard-Aßmann-Observatorium (MOL-RAO) of Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). He graduated in Meteorology at the Humboldt-University in Berlin in 1985. He then spent three years as an aviation forecaster before carrying out research at various institutions in Germany and abroad (France, Denmark) for a decade, including completion of a PhD at the FU Berlin in 1994. Since 1997 he is employed at MOL-RAO of DWD.

Frank was first involved with the EMS Annual Meetings in 2008 when he started to organise the session on Instrumentation and New Challenges in Observation Strategies with colleagues. The session developed into one of the largest single sessions at the Annual Meetings within a few of years by creating an attractive programme, in consultation with colleagues, that addressed emerging issues and topics.

Frank was invited to become the chair of the Observations Programme Group for the conference in 2015, and in 2017 he became the chair of one of the reorganised Programme Streams: Understanding Weather & Climate Processes. He actively supported the move to a more integrative approach of the conference programme and worked on the acceptance within the community through an open and encompassing discussion process. Despite his responsibilities at DWD, he took on the challenging tasks with dedication and commitment. He involved all session organisers in the process so that the development and broadening of the meeting programme was supported by everyone involved.

The Award will be presented at a virtual Awards Ceremony during the EMS Annual Meeting 2021 that will be held online 3-10 September 2021; details will become available here.

Note to editors:

EMS Outstanding Contribution Award: The Outstanding Contribution Award is granted to individuals in recognition of important contributions to the European Meteorological Society over a period of several years. The award was launched in 2015, and is normally awarded biennially in the form of a certificate presented to the recipient during the award ceremony of the EMS Annual Meeting. The EMS Bureau, representatives on the EMS Council, all EMS committees and the EMS Executive Secretary are eligible to make proposals. https://www.emetsoc.org/awards/award-category/outstanding-contribution-award/

EMS Annual Meeting. The theme of the conference is Weather and climate research and services for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals: a decade left for action. Due to the continuing pandemic situation the EMS Annual Meeting: European Conference on Applied Meteorology and Climatology, will be held as an online event from 3-10 September 2021. More information is available at https://www.ems2021.eu.