Dixon County native named interim head of Neb. State Climate Office

Paul Hammel Nebraska Examiner

LINCOLN — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is conducting a national search for a new state climatologist to replace Martha Durr, who resigned in November after serving nearly eight years in the job.

Deborah Bathke was named interim state climatologist earlier this month. She will head the State Climate Office until a full-time replacement is found.

Bathke, a native of Ponca, Nebraska, is a climate scientist and research associate professor at UNL. She formerly served as assistant state climatologist in New Mexico and has extensive experience in drought management.

The Nebraska State Climate Office, housed in UNL’s School of Natural Resources, is the main source of climate information for the state.

The office oversees a network of weather observation stations — the Nebraska Mesonet — and is involved in the state’s Climate Assessment and Response Committee and the U.S. Drought Monitor network, among many other duties.

The State Legislature last year allocated $150,000 to update a state climate change assessment last done in 2014. The climate office is heading up that effort, to be completed next year.

Larkin Powell, director of UNL’s School of Natural Resources, said Bathke is “uniquely positioned” for the interim role.

“She is known nationally for her work in climate science and has the ability to translate complex data for the public,” Powell said in a press release.

Bathke said she looked forward to her new position and hopes to combine her expertise with her “Nebraska roots” to help Nebraskans better understand and prepare for climate risks.

“We get it all here: heavy rains and floods, droughts and heat waves, and thunderstorms and tornadoes,” she said.

Durr told Nebraska Public Media after announcing her resignation that she “didn’t have anything left to give” to the job.

She had been paid $148,000 a year for her dual roles at UNL as a professor and head of the climate office.