Meteorologist Alan Gerard has been chosen to lead the Warning Research and Development Division of the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, Director Steven Koch announced.

Gerard has served as the deputy division chief since 2015. He came to NSSL after a 25 year career with the National Weather Service, including 17 years as the science operations officer and then meteorologist-in-charge of the NOAA NWS Forecast Office in Jackson, Miss.

“I know the importance of warning information to our society after working numerous high impact weather and flood events in NWS forecast offices,” Gerard said. “I hope in this role of leading the incredible scientists who are working every day to improve weather and flood warnings, I can contribute to making all of us safer from the impacts of hazardous weather.”

Gerard oversees several programs developing new warning techniques for all types of weather hazards, including the Forecasting A Continuum of Severe Threats program, or FACETs, and flash flood forecasting initiatives.