Michael Hartman, International Multiproxy Paleofire Database

Michael Hartman created the International Multiproxy Paleofire Database (IMPD), one of the stellar contributions to the NOAA and CIRES climate objectives, and one of the most unique and highly-visible societal applications of the NOAA-CIRES partnership in 2005. The IMPD is a database of fire history data from tree rings and lake sediments documenting fire dating back thousands of years. The information contained in this database is key for understanding the long-term relationships between fire and climate. Michael successfully took on the challenge of structuring the database, designing a web page, and developing online data submission pages and search engines, tasks made more difficult by the fact that two unrelated types of data had to be combined into one web-based resource. He worked with the scientific community to locate and obtain high quality data. Michael has played a critical part in providing the broader scientific community with an extremely valuable resource.