U.S. Ambassador Tours Nauru Site

Published: 20 February 2009

U.S. Ambassador Steven McGann stops for a photo during his visit to Nauru Island in February.

On February 7, 2009, the U.S.Ambassador to Fiji (as well as Nauru and other island nations) Steven McGann visited the ARM Climate Research Facility’s Tropical Western Pacific site on Nauru island. He and Ms. Megan Kennett of the embassy arrived with Nauruan Foreign Department Officers. They were greeted by the local Nauruan ARM observers and were given a tour of the site’s field instruments and equipment enclosures. Mr. McGann had been briefed generally about the ARM Program before his arrival, and local Officer-in-Charge, Andrew Kaierua, further described the site’s capabilities for measuring solar radiation as well as basic meteorology, cloud properties, and aerosols.

The ambassador’s visit was well timed as he was able to watch the local staff as they performed the midday balloon-borne sonde launch. He questioned the observers on the specifics of the launch and was surprised to hear that the station had been operating for ten years. He complimented the observers for the excellent tour on such short notice and told them the facility is important in this time of changing climate.

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The ARM Climate Research Facility is a DOE Office of Science user facility. The ARM Facility is operated by nine DOE national laboratories, including .