Meet an IBMer: Lloyd Treinish


IBMer Lloyd Treinish was an integral part of the team that reviewed proposals from environmental and climate change projects to be run on World Community Grid. Learn about him in this article.



When World Community Grid issued a call for proposals to climate change and environmental scientists in 2017, IBM Distinguished Engineer Lloyd Treinish was asked to participate due to his decades of experience in the field. 

At SXSW 2018, Lloyd and two World Community Grid team members gave a presentation about climate change and environmental issues—and explained how anyone with a computer and an internet connection can help scientists who are tackling these problems. You can see Lloyd’s portion of the presentation in the first 15 minutes of this video. 

An Environmental Sciences Expert

Lloyd’s career is dedicated to studying and finding solutions for environmental sciences problems, and he’s helping lead IBM's research and development in these areas. An IBMer for nearly 30 years, he is an IBM Distinguished Engineer at the IBM Watson Research Center. He’s a pioneer of scientifically-based services for environmentally-sensitive business operations, including issues related to weather, water, energy, climate and sustainability, which are among his areas of research. For example, he started and led IBM’s work in weather forecasting over 20 years ago. He also works on scientific visualization and data models, where his earlier work established standards in the community. 

Prior to joining IBM, he did related work for more than twelve years at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. He has authored over 70 scientific papers, and he has won several awards from IBM and NASA for his contributions.

Originally trained as an astronomer studying the atmospheres of other planets, he moved toward a focus on our own planet first at NASA and then at IBM, given the opportunities for both scientific advancement and applications that have impact on people’s lives and livelihoods.

Helping Scientists Use Massive Computational Power, Data, and Storage

In 2017, IBM decided to support climate change and environmental research by donating massive computing power from World Community Grid, data from The Weather Company, and storage from IBM Cloud. When proposals from scientists started coming in, Lloyd helped the World Community Grid team talk with many of the researchers, reviewed proposals, and helped assemble a set of expert reviewers inside and outside IBM to review the final group of proposals. 

Currently, Lloyd is working with the Africa Rainfall Project researchers and the World Community Grid team to refine the chosen projects and provide recommendations to enable each project to be successful.

How IBM Can Help Accelerate Environmental Research

 “In specific areas of research, we can participate in the research along with the scientists doing the work,” says Lloyd about IBM’s capabilities. “For example, we have unique expertise in atmospheric and other environmental sciences. We also can bring to bear expertise in fields such as high-performance computing and artificial intelligence that are relevant to solve many problems in the environmental sciences. In addition, IBM has considerable experience in issues of environmental regulation and sustainable business practices, which are relevant to many research endeavors in these fields.”

Lloyd adds, “It's easy to participate in World Community Grid by donating computing power, and anyone with a computer and an internet connection can support research that matters. For some within IBM, their skills may lead them to contribute to this work in other ways. For example, as I continue to work with World Community Grid there may be future opportunities to review project proposals, and I could help connect the team with IBMers who have relevant areas of interest and expertise.”