Mema o Te Apārangi | Member profile: Greg Bodeker
In this month’s Member profile, we hear from Greg Bodeker, an Associate Member of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Tell us a bit about the organisation you are with and the work that you do.
Most of my time and energy goes into Bodeker Scientific, an Independent Research Organisation that I started in 2009. All of my work in Bodeker Scientific is now in climate science, with a focus on extreme weather events. Bodeker Scientific had about 15 staff a few years ago, but two weeks ago I relocated from Alexandra to Wellington and so have been winding the company down to just a few people who are all working remotely. I am also co-director of two other companies: Red Sky AI that is developing AI-based weather forecasting and Kekule Games that is developing a games platform.
When did you become a Member and what has your involvement been with the Society?
I became a member of the Society in 1999. Other than giving a talk or two at the Society, and attending a few meetings at the Society, my main involvement has been as a member of the Earth Science and Astronomy panel for the Marsden Fund for 3 years (that was about 10 years ago). Having moved recently to Wellington I may now be able to do more.
What has been a defining highlight of your career?
Probably serving as co-chair of SPARC (Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate), one of the four core projects of the World Climate Research Programme.
What were the contributing factors for choosing to work in the science field?
When I finished high school, I went to a careers guidance counsellor. I had to do a wide variety of tests over the course of a weekend. At the end of the weekend the counsellor gave her assessment. She said, "Greg, you have the academic aptitude to do whatever you like. Just make sure you never work with people!". So, science seemed to be the way to go. But then I had to work with people anyway.