Michael Garstang (1930–2025)
Michael Garstang, an AMS Fellow whose pioneering work in tropical meteorology and interdisciplinary environmental science spanned more than six decades, passed away in 2025. He was 95.
Born April 4, 1930, in Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Garstang’s early years in the African landscape shaped a lifelong curiosity about the natural world. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Natal and went on to receive his master’s and doctorate from Florida State University.
Garstang’s career included appointments as a teaching associate at the University of Natal; research associate at African Explosives/Chemical Industries; meteorologist for the British Colonial Service in Trinidad; research associate at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI); assistant professor at Florida State University; and, ultimately, professor of atmospheric science in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, where he served for three decades. He was also a founder, president, and chairman of the board of Simpson Weather Associates (SWA), helping guide its evolution as a private-sector research and development company supporting NASA, NSF, DOE, and other federal agencies.
A leader in tropical field research, Garstang conducted a seminal 1963 experiment east of Barbados for his doctoral thesis, measuring air–sea energy fluxes from a WHOI vessel. An expanded 1968 Barbados experiment—conducted with support from NOAA and aircraft from the National Center for Atmospheric Research—broke new ground by quantitatively linking surface heat and moisture fluxes to cloud development through the subcloud and convective layers. The work helped lay the foundation for the 1969 Barbados Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment (BOMEX) and informed the design of the landmark Global Atmospheric Research Program Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) in 1974. Data from GATE significantly advanced understanding of multiscale tropical interactions, including the role of deep convection in tropical cyclone development and improved forecasting of when tropical disturbances would—and would not—intensify.
Elected an AMS Fellow, Garstang also served as chief editor of the Journal of Applied Meteorology. Over his career, he mentored 25 PhD students and 16 master’s students, in addition to advising many others—an enduring legacy reflected in the generations of scientists he trained.
At the University of Virginia, Garstang fostered multidisciplinary research that extended beyond atmospheric science. His groundbreaking studies of elephant behavior examined how low-frequency sound and environmental cues influence communication and movement. His work was featured in the documentary, The Elephants of Etosha, and culminated in his 2015 book, Elephant Sense and Sensibility: Behavior and Cognition. In recent years, he continued exploring links between atmospheric processes and animal behavior, including studies of eagle flight in Virginia’s mountains. His research took him across the Caribbean, the Americas, Africa, New Zealand, Thailand, and Europe.
Through SWA, Garstang advanced applied meteorology in areas ranging from tropical and boundary layer research to wind energy assessment, weather modification, and environmental monitoring. The firm’s early work included wind resource evaluations for the state of Maryland and site-specific assessments for NASA and DOE wind turbine studies, as well as risk quantification for the insurance industry.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Garstang brought creativity and determination to every facet of his life. He built extensively around his family homes in Florida and Virginia, wrote and illustrated books with and for his grandchildren, and became a prolific painter of African landscapes and wildlife. Colleagues and loved ones remember him as a polymath—driven by intellectual curiosity, scientific rigor, wit, and generosity.
He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Elsabe, and the families of his son, Stephen, and daughter, Michele.—Ward Seguin
