Leveraging decades of global experiences as a senior project manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and long-time contributor to the United Nations’ meteorological (WMO) and oceanographic (IOC) communities, Dr. Sidney Thurston has joined EarthX as Vice President for Global Science and Technology (S&T).
“As EarthX evolves and expands globally, Dr. Thurston in this new position will provide continuity to help raise the visibility of the global ocean-climate-weather S&T efforts, explore alternative energy, empower the planet with science-based climate adaptation, and tackle other urgent climate change issues,” said Nathan Loftice, EarthX Chief Executive Officer.
“I am so proud of the team we’ve been building since I joined EarthX. Over the last several months, we have recruited PhDs, attorneys, scientists, engineers, educated international subject matter experts, and other professionals across many sectors to elevate EarthX as a global influencer advocating for the environmental sustainability that we are all striving for,” Loftice said.
Dr. Thurston’s primary duties are delivering S&T content and exhibitions for the EarthX global platform and identifying S&T projects in which EarthX can “lead by example”, including renewable energy, NextGen Information Technology, the Climate and Health Connection, enhancing climate resilience, Nuclear Rethink, and new eco-friendly building materials. He will lead one of several conferences during the Congress of Conferences at EarthX Expo on April 19-23, 2023 and serve as the Chair of the new EarthX Science and Technology Advisory Group (STAG).
Dr. Thurston said, “I am enthusiastic and ready to lead in the creation of many global programs. When I began organizing capacity building workshops well over two decades ago it was primarily directed to empower vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific Region. Today, with sea level rise and increasingly devastating impacts from droughts, floods, heat waves, tropical cyclones and other extreme events, I am coming to realize the entire planet is now vulnerable to the existential threat of climate change. That is what motivated me to join EarthX, to help deliver science-based adaptation solutions to everyone in need across the full social-economic spectrum. I look forward to helping EarthX and the organizations it supports to get the message out.”
In December, Dr. Thurston retired from NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) Program as Program Manager for Ocean Observing Technology and Overseas Program Development, in which he managed several Global Met-Ocean Observing Networks, including the Global Drifter Program and Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array.
These global responsibilities enabled him to pursue his passion for establishing Resource-Sharing Partnerships and building capacity, traveling 2.5 million air miles across the Indo-Pacific Region in 28 years. During this time he organized over 30 workshops by bringing ocean-climate experts to the regions to deliver training on the social-economic applications of Met-Ocean observations including in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Mauritius, Kenya, China, Tanzania and India. Dr. Thurston will continue to serve the Global Community as Vice-Chair of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Standing Committee on Earth System Observing and Monitoring Networks and the WMO-Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Joint Collaborative Board.