Gorm Petter Emberland

Gorm Emberland, an IT Specialist with the US Department of Agriculture, died Wednesday, July 3, 2013 at Georgetown University Hospital. He was 54.An extremely patriotic naturalized American citizen, his family and friends believe it is fitting that he passed on the eve of Independence Day.Gorm was a lead software developer on the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) system that is used by the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), and which also supports the entire Agricultural Research Service (ARS) genetic resource collections. A significant amount of the software that is used by the NPGS today was written by Gorm. He was a productive and dedicated developer who was passionate about his career.Gorm first started with ARS as an undergraduate student employee in 1978, working in the computer room at the National Agricultural Library. He obtained a B.S. degree in Zoology from the University of Maryland-College Park in 1981. He was captivated by the emerging field of computer science and obtained a B.S. degree in it, also from UMD, in 1986 while he concurrently worked for several local private computer companies. In 1991, he returned to ARS as an IT Specialist in the National Germplasm Resources Lab to work on the GRIN project. He was the lead developer on a project called pcGRIN that shared our information management system freely with international genebanks. Gorm was well known and highly regarded among both the U.S. and international plant genetic resource communities.Gorm was born in Bergen, Norway on August 28, 1958. He moved with his family to the United States as a child. He graduated from Wicomico High School in 1976. One of his proudest accomplishments came while in college – he was naturalized as an American citizen.Gorm found great solace in time spent outdoors, especially when spent with his wife Joan. He enjoyed activities like hiking, biking and kayaking. An avid reader and history buff, Gorm loved spending the evenings tucked away with a good book. Brilliantly smart and faithful, Gorm stressed to his children the importance of seeking knowledge, working hard and maintaining strong friendships – all values he exemplified to the end. Gorm resided in Tracy’s Landing, MD. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Joan Emberland; his daughter, Ann; his son, Colin; and his brother, Trond Gorm is preceded in death by his parents, Rolf and Sylvia; and his sister, Anne. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made on behalf of the family to Calvert Animal Welfare League or MedStar Georgetown University Hospital - MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Gorm Petter Emberland please visit our Sympathy Store.