Matthew Perna joined the Unidata Program Center (UPC) team on June 6th of 2016 as a systems administrator. A native New Yorker, he moved to Fort Collins, CO from Long Island, NY in April, 2016.
Matt attended the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University before he earned his first Microsoft Systems Engineer (MCSE) in 1998. Since then, he has accrued 21 certifications for Microsoft system engineering.
Larissa Gordon joined the Unidata Program Center as a summer communication intern on March 14th, 2016. Larissa has just completed her Bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in Evolutionary Biology; she also earned minors in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Creative Writing, Fiction Studies.
Her primary interest in her undergraduate career was the interaction between biota and climate, specifically in a marine environment.
Tom Hollingshead joined the Unidata Program Center as a System Administrator on July 30, 2015. He's built up a wide-ranging set of technical skills over more than 20 years in the field, ranging from systems administration of Linux and Windows servers to information security, network administration, and virtualization technologies. While he's new to Unidata, Tom is well acquainted with UCAR's Community Programs (UCP) — he spent nearly two years working as a systems administrator for the GLOBE program in 2012-2013.
It hasn't been just a succession of office buildings, though. “My first technical skills were acquired in the U.S. Navy where I worked on a short range, self-defense missile system on an aircraft carrier,” says Tom. He also spent a couple of years San Jose, Costa Rica, working for Intel.
The Unidata Program Center is pleased to welcome Inken Purvis to our staff. Inken joined us as an Administrative Assistant on March 2, 2015; she'll be the Program Center's new Travel Coordinator, among other administrative duties.
Prior to coming to the UPC, Inken has worked in a variety of marketing and administrative roles in the financial services, publishing, and (most recently) pharmaceutical sectors. Her experience doing meeting support, event planning, and travel arrangement fills an obvious need here at the Program Center, but that's just a beginning.
Marty Bright joined the Unidata Program Center as a System Administrator on July 28, 2014. Along with his cheerful disposition, he brings some 25 years' experience in the design, implementation, and support of complex information systems. Marty had actually been working at the UPC on a contract basis since April 2014, and has now consented to join the staff as a full-time employee.
Prior to coming to the UPC, Marty helped support the Adams 12 school district in Colorado, where he was responsible for troubleshooting hardware and software issues for a network of several thousand personal computers. Along the way he developed expertise in dealing with numerous operating sytems, server hardware, virtualization technologies, and networking gear.
Josh Young joined the Unidata Program Center as the Community Services Manager on March 10, 2014. He comes to Unidata from the Consortium for Ocean Leadership in Washington, D.C. where he served as the Program Manager for the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee Support Office (IOOC SO). At the IOOC SO, he supported member agencies in coordinating federal ocean observing and engaging the broader science community.
Josh first encountered Unidata products at the IOOC SO, where one of his duties was supporting the Data Management and Communications Steering Team. From the beginning, it was obvious that the Steering Team thought highly of Unidata, but all of the technical terms that members used were very unfamiliar and confusing. After several years, Josh became thoroughly accustomed to being confused during data-management conversations.
Ryan May joined the Unidata Program Center software development staff on January 6th, 2013. He comes to Unidata from the University of Oklahoma, where he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in Meteorology, and where he'll be finishing up his doctoral dissertation "sometime later this year."
Christian Ward-Garrison joined the Unidata Program Center software development staff on December 2, 2013 — just in time to join in the UPC staff's annual white elephant gift exchange and holiday celebration.
Christian earned a Bachelor's degree in Mathematical and Computer Sciences from the Colorado School of Mines, and comes to Unidata from the U.S. Geological Survey in Lakewood, Colorado. There, he used Unidata products extensively to assist in modeling of watershed systems.
The Unidata Program Center is pleased to welcome Sheri Ruscetta to our staff. Sheri joined us as an administrative assistant on June 17th, 2013; in addition to other administrative duties, she'll be serving as our Workshop Coordinator.
The Unidata Program Center wishes a fond farewell to budget analyst and multitalented team player Tina Campbell, who is embarking on a new career with an environmental research and consulting firm.
