BERRIEN MOORE III 

I met Berrien Moore; B to his friends, in 1976 when he had become a tenured professor of mathematics at the University of New Hampshire. He stopped by my small gunsmithing shop because of his interest in guns and hunting we soon B became good friends and enjoyed times in the field hunting for grouse and woodcock and around edges of swamps while duck hunting. It was about this time that I sold him a Kirkwood featherweight double gun. It was this purchase that lead us both into research regarding David Kirkwood master gunmaker from Boston and inspired B to seek out more Kirkwood guns. B always liked duck hunting and I remember him being quite proud when he found a 10 bore sidelock Kirkwood with 32″ barrels and his delight in finding the #2 gun of the pair 30 years later.

We shared a love of old houses and architecture. We both were restoring 18^th century homes and B was instrumental in my career change from gunsmith to joiner and mason specializing in early hand planed woodwork. I did a considerable amount of work building doors, windows and paneling for his lovely 1730’s house in Dover, NH. Throughout all this time B continued hunting and fishing whenever his busy schedule would allow.

He was always very unassuming; one would never suspect the accolades he received throughout his career in the sciences. He was named Distinguished Professor in 1997 and served as the Director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at UNH from 1987-2008. During this time he was also a visiting scientist at University of Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, University of Stockholm, East-West Center in Honolulu and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. In 2008 B left UNH and moved to Princeton, NJ as the Executive Director of Climate Central. In 2010 B joined the University of Oklahoma as Dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, Chesapeake Energy Corp. Chair in Climate Studies, Director of the National Weather Center and Vice President for Weather and Climate Programs. He published extensively regarding the carbon cycle, biogeochemistry environmental and space policy as well as mathematics. He was instrumental in the writing of the third assessment report of the IPCC and was honored for contributing to their award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He worked tirelessly on many other committees, joint publications and studies regarding space, climate and environmental change. He also worked with NASA in many positions and most recently served on the JPL advisory council. His many honors include the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal (their highest civilian honor), the NOAA Administrators Recognition Award and the 2007 Dryden Lectureship in Research Medal by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 2017 he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Carolina.

Despite being constantly busy B still found time to enjoy fishing and duck hunting. He continued with his collection of fine shotguns including many “best” British makers and Forehand Arms guns, as well as his beloved Kirkwoods. His other collections include fine fishing rods, Pflueger reels, fishing flies, early sporting prints and duck decoys. B held a vast knowledge of all the many things he was passionate about and it was always a pleasure to talk with him about guns and the progress of our personal lives.

Farewell my dear friend,

Mal MacGregor