Dave Bader Honors Founder’s Award Recipients at E3SM All-Hands Meeting
Figure 1. Founder’s Award blue crystal pyramid paperweight
At the recent E3SM All-Hands meeting, retiring Principal Investigator Dave Bader took a moment to reflect on the the first ten years of the project. As the founding Council Chair, Dave recognized five individuals with Founder’s Awards. The awards were given to those who, Dave believed, made essential and critical early contributions to the ACME/E3SM project. The efforts made the difference between success and failure in the “Dark Days,” as Dave termed the period during which many voices in the Earth system community opined that the DOE lab system did not have the expertise to build a world class modeling system.
Each awardee received a crystal paperweight inscribed with the recipient’s name (Fig. 1), to symbolize the lasting impact of their work on the project.
Figure 2. Dave Bader presents Founder’s Award to Chris Golaz
The first Founder’s Award was presented to Chris Golaz (Fig. 2) for his exceptional work on building and testing the E3SMv1 coupled system, the project’s first major deliverable. This highly specialized task, requiring unique experience and intuition, was critical to the project’s viability. Dave emphasized that only a handful of people in the world possess the skills necessary to tackle this challenge, and Chris’s contributions laid the groundwork for E3SM’s success.
Figure 3. Dave Bader presents Founder’s Award to Renata McCoy
Renata McCoy received an award (Fig. 3) for her role as the Project Engineer. Dave recounted how Renata joined the team under unique circumstances and quickly became the organizational backbone of E3SM. Her meticulous attention to detail and ability to manage the complexities of the project proved vital to its success. Renata designed the Confluence instance for ACME/E3SM project management, which proved essential for communication and organization. Dave shared a memorable compliment from a DOE program manager who was not associated with E3SM: “I want a Renata,” underscoring her irreplaceable contributions to the team’s operations and her ability to keep the project running smoothly.
Figure 4. Dave Bader presents Founder’s Award to Jim Foucar
The third Founder’s Award was given to Jim Foucar (Fig. 4), whose work on establishing the project’s infrastructure and CIME implementation proved essential to the project. Dave stressed the importance of infrastructure to the project’s success and credited Jim with making it functional and reliable. Without his efforts, E3SM would not have achieved the momentum it needed to move forward, making Jim’s contributions a cornerstone of the project’s early achievements.
Figure 5. Dave Bader presents Founder’s Award to Jon Wolfe
Jon Wolfe was honored with the fourth Founder’s Award (Fig. 5) for his expertise in developing the interface to the couplers, which enabled the first version of the coupled model to incorporate new components like MPAS. Dave highlighted Jon’s critical role in model development and implementation, noting that his work was essential to the project’s technical breakthroughs.
Figure 6. Kate Calvin, former lead of E3SM Land Group
The final Founder’s Award was presented to Kate Calvin (Fig. 6), who played a crucial role in resolving inter-laboratory conflicts during E3SM’s formative stages. Kate volunteered for the difficult assignment to resolve a major interlaboratory conflict centered on the design of the ACME/E3SM Land component. Working with members of the external community and the leaders of the two approaches, Kate designed a fair, objective and mutually acceptable intercomparison protocol and its metrics. Kate skillfully demonstrated that the DOE lab competitive culture can be overcome for the good of the project. Though Kate was not present at the meeting, Dave ensured her award would be delivered to her, reflecting the team’s deep appreciation for her leadership and problem-solving skills.
The Founder’s Awards were sincere expressions of gratitude to dedicated project participants who stepped up at key times to shape E3SM’s success through their expertise, dedication, and leadership. As Dave transitions out of his role as Principal Investigator, his reflections on the project’s journey and the contributions of these awardees remind us of the collaborative spirit that drives scientific innovation.
This article is a part of the E3SM “Floating Points” Newsletter, to read the full Newsletter check:
