George H. Taylor Papers, 1980-2003

George H. Taylor joined the faculty of the Oregon State University College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) in 1989. Taylor's previous employment had been with weather consulting firms where he specialized in air quality and meteorological analysis. His educational training was centered in mathematics (B.A., University of California-Santa Barbara, 1969) and meteorology (M.S. University of Utah, 1975). His work for these companies also involved software development.

At OSU, Taylor served as the Director of the Oregon Climate Service and was responsible for maintaining the central source of weather and climate data for the State of Oregon. Taylor gave his position a high level of public visibility and media engagement that was evident in his regular newspaper columns on Oregon weather history and co-authorship of the two books: The Oregon Weather Book (1999) and The Climate of Oregon: From Rain To Desert (1999).

In 2007, in response to growing concerns over understanding the impact of global warming in Oregon, the Oregon State Legislature established the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI). Housed at OSU and administered through COAS, OCCRI was formed in large part to strengthen connections between researchers at the three major research Oregon universities (OSU, the University of Oregon, and Portland State University) actively engaged in studies on Oregon's weather and geology. A central motivation in establishing OCCRI was to help develop policies at the state level designed to mitigate climate change.

The formation of OCCRI completely changed the previous administrative model of a singular state climatologist representating Oregon as its official meteorologist. In this administrative overhaul, the duties and responsibilities once held by Taylor alone were now shared with a newly created director position within OCCRI. Taylor's main role under this new model was to manage the mapping and data services in support of OCCRI. Philosophically, Taylor had downplayed in his writings the impact of human activity upon global climate change, a position at odds with the activist stance of the newly formed OCCRI.

Within a year of the formation of OCCRI, Taylor retired from his position with the Oregon Climate Service and went on to establish a meteorological consulting firm, Applied Climate Services, in 2008. Taylor continued his involvement in educational programming through presentations and lectures. In 2014, Taylor gave a program on the topic of "Oregon Climate: Past, Present, and Future" for the OSU Academy For Lifelong Learning and a presentation in observance of the solar eclipse in 2017. He died in 2022.