The William Gaskell Medal was awarded annually by the Royal Meteorological Society to a scientist who has distinguished himself in the field of experimental meteorology.
The medal was named in honour of Dr William Gaskell, a meteorologist who was killed along with 3 colleagues on a research flight to study microphysical and electrical properties in supercooled clouds on 2 March 1980.
He obtained his Ph.D from UMIST in 1979 for his thesis on 'Field and Laboratory Studies of Precipitation Charges'.
It was later accepted for publication in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society [1] The Medal was first presented in 1981 to Peter Ryder of the Meteorological Office.
Recipients were asked to deliver the William Gaskell Memorial Lecture to the society.