Dr. Peter Barber can multitask and, given his new role at the Northern Nevada Science Center, thatıs a good thing. Since joining DRI in 1993 as executive director of the Atmospheric Sciences Center (ASC), Barber has served as interim president of DRI, interim executive director of DRI's Energy and Environmental Engineering Center (EEEC), and is now director of the Division of Atmospheric Sciences, formed by the merger of ASC and EEEC. As if the change of titles doesnıt keep things interesting enough, there's the change of venue to consider. Barber and the 100 or so staff and faculty of the Division of Atmospheric Sciences have recently moved to the new addition to the Northern Nevada Science Centeradjacent to the Maxey Science Center in Renofrom their former location in Stead. How does he like the ever-changing scenery at DRI? "It's the best job I've ever had," says Barber, "and I hope itıs my last."
 Dr. Peter Barber, executive director of the Division of Atmospehric Sciences. Looks on while Assistant Research Professor Wendy Goliff conducts a procedure in the Organic Analytical Laboratory. |
With M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, Barber has spent 35 years in the academic and industrial sides of the scientific world, including faculty positions at Clarkson University and the University of Utah, and 10 years with McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). It was an almost natural progression that led him to environmental research, and ultimately to DRI. "Much of my research was with light scattering, and I found that this sort of naturally promoted interaction with the environmental sciencesatmospheric physics and chemistry, visibility, raindrops, and ice crystals. So, while my methods come from an electrical engineering background, I found I had much in common with those interested in environmental atmospheric science." And why did he choose DRI? "I was attracted to DRI because of the flexibility, the entrepreneurial opportunities. You really have unlimited freedom to work with different people, to decide how you want to do things. DRI is the best of academia and private industry."
As executive director of the Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Barber heads an impressive team of researchers involved in such lofty topics as climate variability, air quality, renewable energy sources, mesoscale dynamic meteorology, atmospheric dispersion modeling, emissions inventory, and orographic cloud systems.
But ask him about the group's recent accomplishments, and he points to something more down to earth. "This building is one of them." It was, he explains, a team effort that made the transition successful and relatively smooth. "We involved the scientists from the beginning. For example, we asked everyone what they wanted from their lab space, then worked with the architect to plan laboratories that would meet those needs, yet still be flexible as programs and personnel changed."
Communication was a priority in the planning, and that hasn't changed now that everyone is settled into their new home. "We, of course, hope for even more interaction now that we are all together," comments Barber. And it is happening, sometimes with a little intervention. "Friday Sandwich Seminars," where anyonefaculty, staff, or visitorcan bring a lunch and listen to an informal presentation by a DRI researcher, are taking place to bring together people from across DRI. For his own part, Barber keeps in touch by shunning technology. "I try not to send e-mail or use the phone when I can walk across the building and speak to someone personally instead. I try to get throughout the building every day."
Barber's challenge for the upcoming months will be to merge ASC and EEEC administratively and create a smoothly running new division. He says the reorganization will ultimately be a positive thing. " People will begin to see each other in ways they haven't before. Getting scientists together, on any pretext, always means better science in the end."
And the science, he adamantly points out, comes first. Throughout the move and the reorganization process, research projects and programs have continued without serious delays. "We've made sure that the researchers have what they need. They are our number one priority - the lifeline, the lifeblood of this place."
Jackie Allen
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