[ESIP-all] Bruce Barkstrom 1944-2018

Tue Aug 28 19:20:41 EDT 2018

I have heard and seen Bruce occasionally after I came to Asheville almost 9
years ago but did not get a chance to work with him directly.

I took this photo at last AUG Fall meeting - A five-mins chat at his poster
has turned into an over two-hours conversation.

He told me about the book he was writing and sent me the first Chapter in
early February 2018. I finished reading it non-stop and told him that I
have really enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to reading the
Chapter 2, which he promised to finalize as soon as he could.
Unfortunately, that was the last time I have heard from him.

I wished that I had an opportunity to know him sooner – talking with him at
the AGU was one of the best things for me at the meeting.

--- Peng

On Tue, Aug 28, 2018 at 3:38 PM, Ruth Duerr via ESIP-all <
esip-all at lists.esipfed.org> wrote:

> I also kept a sporadic email conversation with Bruce and note that he was
> active practically up to the very end.  For example on June 2, he sent out
> an email to the FORCE11 mailing list with a list of articles to read in the
> latest issue of the Communications of the ACM on issues with Blockchain!
>
> Ruth
>
> On Aug 28, 2018, at 1:24 PM, Peter Fox via ESIP-all <
> esip-all at lists.esipfed.org> wrote:
>
> I do not recall who took this: Santa Barbara, CA ESIP summer 2009. Many of
> you can imagine the conversation.
> <1937066_116141056962_6298879_n.jpg>
>
> ---Peter.
>
>
>
> On 28 Aug 2018, at 13:15 , Mattmann, Chris A (1761) via ESIP-all <
> esip-all at lists.esipfed.org> wrote:
>
> Dear Erin,
>
> I am so sorry to hear this. Bruce and I had developed a pen pal
> relationship in the past 6-7 years as he and I grew
> closer after meeting at an ESIP meeting and talking about archives and
> Apache OODT. Bruce and I would regularly
> exchange notes to one another and I was saddened to hear years back when
> he first was diagnosed, got better, and
> then went into remission from his illness.
>
> He and I co-authored a paper together in Earth Science Informatics at the
> beginning of our relationship:
>
> A simple model illustrating the virtue of replication for long-term
> information preservation
> https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12145-012-0100-4
>
> I grew to love seeing his notes. He would tell me about how everything
> could be replicated using the Ada language
> and how he could use it to model the things we were talking about with
> archiving and OODT. I got him so interested in
> Apache and the likes of open source, that we were able to get Bruce signed
> up and as a key contributor in terms
> of thoughts and discussions to the Apache OODT lists:
>
> http://markmail.org/message/nu5eaulyjw72lrcr <=== proud moment in 2012
>
> As the years passed by, Bruce and I would save the technical discussion in
> our notes, and mostly just ask how
> each other was doing. He would tell me about traveling somewhere with
> Alice, having great wine, and/or simply
> what his plans for the coming quarter were.
>
> The last note that I received was Bruce was on 12/22/2017. It was titled
> “Still Here”.
>
> I share that note in its entirety with you all:
>
> ---BEGIN Message
> I keep being surprised and pleased with being able to get up every day.
>
> While I'm still doing chemo, it looks like things are under control.
> Can't guarantee that will last, but so far so good.  I even ran into
> a physician who said I was only the third person he's encountered
> in 30 years of practice who'd survived three years after a diagnosis
> of pancreatic cancer.  In short, I'm a statistical anomaly - which
> you could call extremely lucky.  Anyway, I'm just back from a week
> in New Orleans, presenting a poster at the AGU meeting.  Enjoyed
> the food as well - doing Antoine's, Galatoire's, and Breakfast at
> Brennan's.
>
> Looks like you're still dabbling occasionally in OODT.
>
> Best wishes for a New Year.
> ----END Message
>
> In my note to him I made him promise that in 2 years we would still
> be sending notes to one another. He didn’t hold up his end of the bargain
> but I forgive him ☹ He replied in his final reply to me that day by
> telling me
> a funny story getting lost on his way to a restaurant that he remembered on
> a Gulf Coast Marina at Dauphin Island. He found a funny way to introduce
> archival practices in the story as he always did. I’ll share with anyone
> interested
> at some point in the future.
>
> His last words to me were (after me telling him about the expansion of my
> family
> to include my daughter who was only 4 months old at the time):
>
> “Congratulations on your family news.  Don't forget to enjoy being
> together.
> Bruce B.”
>
> I will miss him greatly and will miss our notes. My heartfelt condolences
> to Alice
> and to his family. I had the great pleasure of knowing and meeting him
> later in
> life. I can only imagine what kind of trouble we would have gotten in to
> had I known
> him earlier.
>
> Please do include me Rama in your EOS tribute. I would be happy to
> contribute.
>
> Sincerely,
> Chris A. Mattmann
> Bruce’s Friend.
>
>
> Chris Mattmann, Ph.D.
> Associate Chief Technology & Innovation Officer
> Manager, IT Advanced Research & Open Source Office, 1761
> Manager, NSF and Open Source Programs Application Office, 8212
> 17x   |   Office of the Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology and
> Innovation Office (1760)
>
> JPL   |   jpl.nasa.gov
> 4800 Oak Grove Dr, Mail Stop 171-377
> Pasadena, California 91109
> O 818-354-8810   |   M 626-755-6564
>
>
> From: ESIP-all <esip-all-bounces at lists.esipfed.org> on behalf of Erin
> Robinson via ESIP-all <esip-all at lists.esipfed.org>
> Reply-To: Erin Robinson <erinrobinson at esipfed.org>
> Date: Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 9:59 AM
> To: "esip-all at lists.esipfed.org" <esip-all at lists.esipfed.org>
> Cc: Hampapuram Ramapriyan <hampapuram.ramapriya at ssaihq.com>
> Subject: [ESIP-all] Bruce Barkstrom 1944-2018
>
> Hi All -
>
> This email is a belated notice that Bruce Barkstrom passed away on July 1,
> 2018. As many of you know, he was a significant contributor to Earth
> sciences at NASA, NOAA and in ESIP. He will always be remembered as an
> instrumental figure and visionary in the early days of Federal Earth
> science data systems as he carefully considered users and user needs. Bruce
> continued to contribute actively to the ESIP Data Stewardship and broader
> Earth science data community after he retired. Bruce was a good friend to
> many of us and will be missed.
>
>
> If you knew Bruce or of his work and would like to leave a condolence, the
> family wishes that notes are left on the family's condolence space online:
> https://www.ashevilleareaalternative.com/notices/Bruce-Barkstrom Donations
> can be made in Bruce's memory to: Americans for Responsible Solutions, P.O.
> Box 51196, Washington, DC 2009, it is a gun control advocacy PAC started by
> Gabrielle Gifford and her husband & astronaut, Mark Kelly.
>
> Rama Ramapriyan and Nancy Hoebelheinrich are interested in co-authoring an
> Eos Tribute for Bruce. If you would like to be included you can reply reach
> out directly to Rama, cc'd here.
>
>
> Best,
> Erin
>
> Erin Robinson
> Executive Director
> ESIP - Earth Science Information Partners
> esipfed.org | 314.369.9954
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>

-- 

*Ge Peng, PhD*
*Research Scholar*
Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites - NC (CICS-NC)/NCSU at

NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Center for Weather and Climate (CWC)

151 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
+1 828 257 3009; ge.peng at noaa.gov

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1986-9115

Following CICS-NC on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/cicsnc>
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