NSSL’s Doug Forsyth: Jack of Many Trades

Susan Cobb
National Severe Storms Laboratory
NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

December 30, 2008 — Changes in latitudes ... Jimmy Buffett goes south, but Doug Forsyth goes north. Lake Cochrane in South Dakota is a long way from Buffet’s Margaritaville, or his "Salty Piece of Land," but it's all the same attitude to Forsyth, chief of Radar Research and Development at NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. For a couple of weeks each summer, his lake cabin is a little bit of boating, a little bit of golf, some trapshooting, playing his guitar, stargazing, and the annual puzzle that gets hung on the wall. It’s a little bit of everything, but not too much of anything.

Doug’s wide range of interests is a little bit like his work history - tree trimmer, meat cutter, bartender, grain bin builder, Air Force ... and when the Air Force needed meteorologists - they sent him to Penn State to earn a degree in meteorology. He always went where he was needed - to work on data models and flight simulators at the Air Force Global Weather Central in Nebraska, then to work on the first Solar Optical Observation network at the Palehua Solar Observatory in Hawaii, on to the Pentagon, and then to a 10 centimeter radar at the Air Force Geophysics Lab in Sudbury, Mass. His experiences made him an expert in radar, algorithm development, and automation.

Doug also went to Oklahoma. He first came as an Air Force representative to the Joint Doppler Operational Project to prove to the National Weather Service and the public that Doppler radar was superior. Working on JDOP also gave Doug the opportunity to earn his Master's degree at the University of Oklahoma. The Air Force sent him back to Oklahoma again as part of the NEXRAD Interim Operational Test Facility (the beginning of the Radar Operations Center) in 1982. It was then he decided he really loved radar work and chose to stay in Oklahoma. Doug officially came on board at NSSL in 1985 as a special projects manager. Since then he has filled many roles including division director, manager, deputy director, and acting director of NSSL. His current role is chief of Radar Research and Development, and he and his team are now exploring phased array technology and its rapid-scan capabilities.

"We're seeing things we've never seen before," Forsyth said. "It's a better radar.  NSSL is state of the art - pushing the envelope of new horizons of knowledge - it is fun to be a part of something that benefits the nation."  Forsyth thinks he has the best job in the world, and NSSL is the ideal place to work. "You have the freedom to do what you think needs to be done," he said.

Doug has always had a passion to make things better and seized an opportunity to make a unique working environment for the weather community in Norman. He worked tirelessly as the program manager on behalf of NOAA during the planning, design, and construction of the National Weather Center in Norman. He now has a tremendous sense of satisfaction sitting in his new office on the fourth floor of the NWC, surrounded by a dozen prestigious weather organizations.

"It's serene, amazing, wonderful."  He had the honor of "topping out" the building with co-worker Bob Staples by planting the American flag on top of the NWC. "It was a once in a lifetime experience," he said.

Doug's daughter Rachel says "my dad [is] the greatest man I know" - a strong endorsement from the former NSSL intern. Rachel is currently a student at the University of Oklahoma along with her twin brother, Ross. "I hear all the time when I'm introduced around the Weather Center about what a great guy my father is." 

Doug and his wife, Ann, still have Holly (a 9th grader) at home. "My dad is the greatest listener, supporter, and the greatest role model when it comes to living each day with a passion for life. He only lifts me up and is the calmer of all storms - no pun intended! ha! "  

Doug is active in his church and community working towards helping the chronically homeless. He also enjoys hi-tech adventure movies and talking on his amateur radio. What continues to tug though, is that lake in South Dakota. For him, it's "where the song of the ocean meets the salty piece of land."

Visit http://www.oar.noaa.gov/podcast/ to hear Forsyth discuss aspects of radar research and what is in store for the next generation of weather radar.