First EMS Tromp Award goes to Bert G. Heusinkveld

New award for an outstanding achievement in biometeorology

Photo Bert Heusinkveld
Bert Heusinkveld

The EMS Tromp award has recently been established and is given for the first time this year. The EMS Tromp Award 2015 winner is Bert G. Heusinkveld from the University of Wageningen, nominated with the paper: Spatial variability of the Rotterdam urban heat island as influenced by urban land use, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2014.

The prize will be presented during the 15th EMS Annual Meeting and 12th ECAM on 08 September 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The awardee will receive $US 1,000 and travel expenses to attend the EMS Annual Meeting. The awardee will give a presentation on 08 September 2015 at the EMS & ECAM session ASI7/CE6 Human Biometeorology.

The Tromp Foundation (Foundation for Biometeorological Research), the legacy of Solco W. Tromp, is funding this award with the intention to promote biometeorology in Europe. Biometeorology is an interdisciplinary science studying the interactions between atmospheric processes and living organisms – plants, animals and humans. It provides answers to the question How does weather and climate impact the well-being of all living beings?

Who was Solco Walle Tromp?

Solco W. Tromp was born on March 1909. He studied geology and geography at Leyden University, The Netherlands, and after he received his PhD he worked as an exploration geologist for oil companies. During World War II he became involved in de Dutch
section of MacArthur’s Headquarters. After the war, he studied physiology and meteorology; in 1947 he became a Professor of Geology at the King Saud University in Cairo, Egypt; from 1950 to 1955 he was a geological consultant at the UN Technical Assistance programme for Central America and the Middle east.

In 1955, he switched to biometeorology and founded the Biometeorological Research centre in Leyden. In the same year he founded the International Society for Biometeorology of which he was secretary until 1976. Solco Tromp combined three distinct qualities,
a highly scientific mind, a logical intellect and an excellent organisational talent. By 1953, he already achieved a substantial bibliography on topics, which we may refer to as biomedical science or medical geography. His remarkable productive energy continued to the time of his death in 1993.

As a person, Solco Tromp was very courteous, full of humour and with a great zest for life. He became the main promoter of biometeorology for many years after his geology career. After he died part of his legacy was allocated to The Tromp Foundation (Foundation for Biometeorological Research). The aim of the Foundation is to promote Biometeorology.


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