Ian Mason, Regional Director ACT

Here he came under the influence of the redoubtable 'Doc' Hogan, and later, as a Met Cl 2 in the Forecasting and Warning Section, he was guided by the kindly hand of Lynn Mitchell, then Senior Forecaster.

In 1967 he was promoted to Met Cl 3 at the Weapons Research Establishment at Woomera. Ian regards the two and a half years at Woomera as one of the highlights of his career. He was involved in forecasting for WRESAT, the first Australian satellite, and for several launches of the Europa rocket.

From Woomera he was transferred to the Canberra Regional Office, where he has spent the past 15 years. In that time he has been responsible for operations of the forecasting office, and also acted as RD for periods totalling nearly two years.

In addition to his duties as an operational forecaster, Ian has established an enviable record in meteorological publication and research, particularly in the field of statistics in forecasting. In recent years he has presented several papers on this subject at Australian and overseas conferences, including a WMO symposium at Nice (1980) and a Workshop at Mount Hood, Oregon (1964).

He says he has been encouraged in his research work by Professor Alan Murphy, Head of the Meteorology Department at Oregon State University, with whom he has regularly corresponded.

Ian's most recent overseas visit—and another career highlight—was a two-week stay in October this year at the NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories at Boulder, Colorado, where he lectured on forecasting verification methods. Following this he was invited to join a team in the US evaluating a new regional observing and forecasting system, but had to decline due to his new appointment as RD ACT.

In his new position Ian is overseeing preparations for an historic first for the Bureau—the issue of probabilistic precipitation forecasts to the public. It's believed this is. the first time this has been done since the Bureau commenced operations in 1908 two years after the method was introduced to the world by the WA Government Meteorologist, E. W. Cook.

Ian studied computer science and statistics part-time at the Australian National University during 1975–76. In later years the roles have been reversed and he has lectured on Meteorology to classes at the ANU, and to students at various Canberra colleges.

He was also chairman of the Canberra Meteorological Society for two years (1978–79) and has been a steward of the POA since his arrival in Canberra.

Away from the office his main relaxation is running (he is a member of the North Canberra Athletics Club) and he has a best time for the marathon of 2 hr 50 min 43 sec to his credit. He is also interested in photography and enjoys music.

Ian and his wife Gail have a daughter Justine, aged 14, and a son Nicholas 13, both attending high school.

Bureau of Meteorology