10 Within 10 Recognition
Matthew "Matt" Tuftedal 2017
![Tuftedal(250x200) Headshot of Matthew Tuftedal for the 2024 10 Within 10 Alumni Awards and he is wearing a blue and red plaid shirt, has short brown hair and glasses, and is smiling with teeth.](https://www.cmich.edu/images/default-source/university-advancement-division/alumni-relations/alumni-awards/2024-awards/tuftedal(250x200).jpg?sfvrsn=472be554_4)
As an atmospheric measurement science specialist at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, Matt is the facility manager for Argonne’s ATMOS site, which houses up to 60 instruments measuring temperature, wind, rain, radiation, and the interaction between greenhouse gasses and the Earth’s surface.
In just two years under Matt’s management of the Argonne Testbed for Multiscale Observation Science (ATMOS), a nearly 20-acre site was overhauled to become a top-class facility within the Department of Energy. Matt has also initiated the planning phases of a new building at ATMOS to provide space for students to learn the tools and instruments that climate scientists work with today.
Additionally, Matt has made an impact in his role as a team leader of the laboratory’s Community Research on Climate and Urban Science (CROCUS) project. CROCUS creates and uses weather instruments to gather data in urban environments, which will help answer questions about our warming climate. Matt’s work with CROCUS helps underserved communities in the Chicagoland area be more climate resilient and helps build stronger, more weather-ready neighborhoods. He has opened doors for students by helping teach them about building and operating their own weather stations and by also explaining how the work they are doing through CROCUS will directly impact their generation.
Matt holds an associate degree from Kalamazoo Valley Community College, a bachelor's degree in meteorology from CMU and a master's degree in atmospheric sciences from the University of North Dakota. He has mentored students from around the world — including from CMU — providing them hands-on experience with weather instrumentation.