C. Megan Larko    Systems Administrator Center for Research on Environment and Water    4041 Powder Mill Road, Suite 302    Calverton, MD 20705-3106 USA    301/931-7299 Phone     301/595-9790 Fax     Email: C. M. Larko

Water Cycle Research:  Modern scientific research relies heavily on the utilization of computing resources. Optimizing performance of both the hardware and software can effect not only the efficiency of calculating results, but even the results themselves. More mathematically precise data and finer spatial resolution are achievable via computing system optimization. M. Larko has used combinations of software memory allocation, enhanced PCI bus transfer mechanisms, kernel header tweaks and other operating system enhancements to assist in furthering the efficiency of the water cycle models and, hopefully, knowledge of the overall global water cycle.

Short Bio:  M. Larko joined CREW after twenty years at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center most recently working with the NASA's Hydrological Sciences Branch where she was instrumental in providing the computational platform for the Land Information Systems (LIS) project. She employs a variety of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), particularly linux, solutions to meet the needs of the project scientists.

Funded Projects

• A Water & Energy Cycle EOS Clearing House Client
  P. Houser, Advancing Collaborative Connections for Earth System Science (ACCESS) SMD-ROSES--NNH06ZDA001N (See ACCESS 2006 Selection List)

Professional Memberships: 

• Treasurer, former president, Board of Directors Tux.Org, Inc.a 501(3)(c) educational non-profit group
• Member D.C. Linux Users Group Washington, DC area Linux Users Group
• Member NoVA Linux Users Group Northern VA area Linux Users Group
• Member D.C. Perl Mongers Washington, DC area Perl Language Users Group
• Member Free Software Foundation

Last Updated: 12 February 2008