Vincent Schaefer's first contact with the Munitalp Foundation came in the early 1950s around the time that Project Cirrus was winding down. The day-to-day routine in the research lab at General Electric was changing from the way it was in the days of Willis Whitney, so in 1951 Schaefer began scaling back his hours at G.E. to collaborate with Munitalp's board of trustees. By 1954, Schaefer was ready to make a complete break from G.E. to become Munitalp's director of research.

Munitalp's main focus was meteorological research, specifically cloud physics. Three advisors helped formulate the group's goals in the early fifties: Svere Petterssen, Horace Byers, and Vincent Schaefer, all of whom came from respected scientific backgrounds. As director of research, Schaefer brought some unexplored ideas from Project Cirrus to the table, ideas that were given time and attention under the resources provided by Munitalp. In collaboration with Director Vernon Crudge, Schaefer oversaw research efforts that expanded throughout the United States and beyond. Munitalp not only sponsored its own original experiments, but also guided grant-funded projects by other organizations having an interest in meteorological work. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the University of Hokkaido (Japan), the University of Stockholm, and Mount Washington Observatory are just a few of the many institutions that collaborated with Munitalp

Two of the best-known research projects to come from Munitalp are Project Skyfire, which dealt with lightning-induced forest fires in the American Northwest, and the first use of time-lapse films to track cloud formations. The former attempted to use cloud seeding technology to reduce risks of forest fires while the latter provided a whole new understanding of everything from jet stream cloud behavior to development of low-lying fog-- information used by the American Meteorological Society as well as flight crews of the world's major airlines.

The Munitalp Foundation moved its headquarters to Africa in the late 1950s, and while Schaefer traveled there to oversee the transfer, he decided not to remain as director of research. Though he officially left the Foundation in 1958, he maintained an advisory role for several years thereafter.