NORMAN, Okla.—A new director has been selected to head the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has named Steven Koch to succeed the retired Jeff Kimpel as director of the lab that focuses on tornado research, weather radar, severe storm forecasts and warnings and hydrometeorology.
Koch is currently director of the Global Systems Division at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. He joined NOAA as chief of the Forecast Research Division that has since been merged into the Earth System Research Laboratory.
Koch earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctorate in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma.
