Dr Michael Manton Chief of BMRC

Director Dr John Zillman, who announced Dr Manton's appointment last month, described him as one of Australia's leading atmospheric research scientists, eminently qualified to head the new national meteorological research centre.

Dr Manton, 39, was born in Sydney and holds Degrees in Engineering and Engineering Science from the University of Sydney, and a Ph.D from the University of British Columbia.

His previous position was in the Cloud Physics Laboratory of the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research in Sydney. Prior to 1975 he was a lecturer in mathematics at Monash University.

He has published extensively in scientific journals on meteorology and oceanography. His work in meteorology has been mainly on the development of methods to predict winds and temperatures in the lower layers of the atmosphere and he has also contributed to studies on the properties of clouds.

Dr Manton has worked in research institutions in-North America and Europe, and last year spent nine months at the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, which produces each day a computerised ten-day global weather forecast.

His chief relaxation is reading, and he and his wife Myrna have a son aged 11.

Bureau of Meteorology