Inside INdiana Business is reporting that Purdue University has been named the new home for the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA will relocate the office from the University of Illinois to Purdue. The MRCC serves as a hub for data collected from federal atmospheric observational sites. There are six regional climate centers across the U.S.
Purdue says Indiana state climatologist Beth Hall will direct the center.
“The climate centers have specific focuses, and the Midwestern Regional Climate Center’s primary themes are based on agriculture and water resources. Purdue is certainly a leader in those areas,” said Hall.
The centers serve as hubs for data collected from federal atmospheric observational sites. Staff members use the data to develop tools beneficial to stakeholders across the region.
“RCCs are designed to provide efficient, user-driven data and information to address pressing challenges at regional and local levels,” said Michael Brewer, chief of NOAA’s Climatic Information Services Branch “We look forward to working with Purdue to deliver these important climate services.”
The MRCC covers nine states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Hall previously served as director of the MRCC from 2012 to 2019 when she was at the University of Illinois, where the center has been located since its creation in the early 1980s.
She joined Purdue in 2019 to lead Indiana’s climate office.