Staff Notes Monthly

UCAR is making headway on plans for a new Foothills Lab building, as well as an addition to Center Green and a paved path to connect the CG and FL complexes. more

Random Profile: Seth Linden Like a lot of NCAR employees, Seth Linden is a self-described weather fanatic. “I love all weather,” he declares. “Snow and severe weather are best.” more	Karyn Sawyer weighs in on bombs, eels, and other career diversions You might think Karyn Sawyer, director of the Joint Office for Science Support, lives for the tropics. She’s been to dozens of countries near the Equator during more than 20 years of coordinating field projects. more

The marathoners: Staffers put in long shifts during snowstorm Driving through snow to the Mesa Lab on the morning of Tuesday, 18 March, Carol Kirkley had a premonition that it could be a long day at work. But she certainly had every expectation of seeing her house again before the following afternoon. more	ACD Studies Globe-Trotting Chemicals When massive forest fires in Indonesia released nearly a billion tons of hazardous gases into the air in 1997, scientists investigated the chemicals that were emitted and their potential impact on the global environment. more

A better fit: Jeffco to get new hangar Getting a single plane into the aging hangar at the Research Aviation Facility is quite a squeeze -- and trying to shoehorn in two planes is out of the question. But plans are being drawn up for a new hangar. more	Refurbishment update: ML Library will move temporarily The NCAR Library’s holdings at the Mesa Lab will be inaccessible to UCAR staff from May through July during the building’s ongoing refurbishment. Library staffers will work temporarily on the second floor of the building’s A Tower, where they are planning to provide a public space for users to visit and access e-mail and the Web, browse a collection of journals available only in paper form, and check out new materials. more

Bionic life forms with long robotic legs have been sighted stalking around the mezzanine of NCAR’s Mesa Lab this week. Aliens? Androids? X-men?
In reality, they are construction workers, wearing stilts so they can reach the ceiling to install an aluminum grid that will hold removable acoustic tiles. As part of the Mesa Lab Utilities Refurbishment project, subcontractors are tearing out ceilings throughout the lab, removing old light fixtures, and putting in new ceilings and energy-efficient light fixtures.
Crews are working in Tower A to upgrade fire sprinklers and alarms; light fixtures; electrical power distribution; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. They’re replacing old grease ducts and installing a new fan in the cafeteria; soon they will begin work in the NCAR Library. And they’ve finished abating asbestos in the lobby, Damon Room, and west hall outside the cafeteria.
Completion of the lobby and mezzanine renovation is tentatively slated for mid-April. However, the building will not reopen to the public for several months, allowing for installation of old and new scientific exhibits. (Text and photo by Lynda Lester, Scientific Computing Division.)