Meet the Scientists
Pay Some Attention to the People Behind the Curtain
We’re going to do something a little different with this newsletter. I wanted to take a moment to thank three people who have been very important in the launch of Weather with a Twist.
The goal of WWAT is to educate about the latest research in meteorology in a fun, whimsical manner while still respecting the intelligence of the reader. This requires that the author also be, well, somewhat intelligent. So, how do I deal with that conundrum? I cheat.
Enter the WWAT Scientific Council of Doom.
The vast majority of the articles are reviewed by one of the following three scientists. They do this as volunteers because they want to ensure I don’t embarrass the field of meteorology. So, in appreciation, I’d like to introduce them to you. Then, back to research with the next issue.
Dr. Chad Kauffman
Professor of Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences
PennWest University
Dr. Kauffman is our lead reviewer. Here is an early weather-related memory:
“Like many weather enthusiasts & professionals, there seems to be an early ‘spark’ that initiates an interest or fascination with weather. My significant weather event was in 1980, in a small Southeast Pennsylvania suburb in bucolic Lancaster County, known for the thriving Amish communities.
A large thunderstorm complex blasted through our little town with hail and high winds, blowing out windows in our house & knocking a large willow tree down. My mother wept at the damage, and my 3-year-old brother commented, “big tree fall down, go boom!” His quote lasted for decades afterward in our family. The searing memories from that event still linger to this day, but it also sparked a lifelong interest in weather & climate.
Skipping forward a few decades, I’ve now spent many years imparting that passion to both undergraduates and graduate students studying the atmospheric sciences. For over half my career, I was lucky enough to develop, with my colleagues, a thriving meteorology program at a small state-owned university near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
My career pivoted in 2017 when I was invited to spearhead a reimagination of AMS’ DataStreme program. Now, I teach adult-learners who actively teach STEM subjects in K-12 classrooms. Put another way, I teach teachers! And I’m thrilled to have this opportunity because both of my parents were public school educators. Teachers are on the “front line” of education in this country, and they have an incredibly challenging job. I am forever impassioned by the educators' dedication to their craft, and I’m always learning new pedagogical skills from them.”
Dr. Swarndeep Gill
Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, Earth, and Environmental Science
PennWest University
Dr. Gill gets an award for the longest edit when he schooled me on ice formation in clouds. Apparently, it does not involve a certain Disney princess.
“I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. The prairie there gives one a lot of horizon to watch the sky. And thunderstorms were something I enjoyed watching from the age of 5. I feel fairly proud that by the age of about 10 or 11, I began to notice a pattern when thunderstorms occurred. You could see the storms form a long way off, and the wind was always blowing toward them. At the time, I didn’t understand that it was because I was experiencing inflow.
But despite the direction of the wind, the clouds always got closer. One day, I told my dad that thunderstorms were coming, and he didn’t believe me. He said, “Son, the wind is blowing the wrong way. Those clouds are moving away from us.” Sure enough, the thunderstorms came, and I was vindicated. My dad learned to trust my observations after that point.”
Dr. Alicia Klees
Teaching Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty Online Program Coordinator
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Klees is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences at UIUC. She is also the Faculty Program Coordinator of the Online Weather and Climate Risk and Data Analytics M.S. degree and graduate-level certificate programs. In this position, she leverages her expertise in modeling, analyzing, and predicting high-impact phenomena such as supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes. Dr. Klees holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences from Penn State University.
At the bottom of each issue is a sentence that says something akin to, "We acknowledge additional contributions from…” The name(s) in that sentence represent the scientific advisor for that issue.
WWAT thanks the Scientific Council of Doom for their support.
We are always open to new review scientists. If you are interested, e-mail aprice@ametsoc.org. The workload is pretty light in general. You may be asked to review one article per month or so.
And Now for Something Completely Different
Weather Geeks is a weekly podcast/show hosted by Dr. Marshall Shepherd, a former president of the American Meteorological Society, and features guests from various fields, including the National Weather Service, academia, and the media. His TedX Atlanta Talk on “Slaying Climate Zombies” is one of the most viewed climate lectures on YouTube.
This week is Weather Geeks’ 10-year anniversary. Many don’t realize it started initially as a television show on the Weather Channel. In celebration, they are looping their favorite episodes via the Weather Channel OTT App (available on streaming devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, and Android TVs).
(This is not an ad, even if it may sound like one. We just think there needs to be more Weather Geeking.)
Thanks for this article. Last fall, I had the pleasure of zooming into one of Dr. Shepherd's classes at the University of Georgia. I discussed my forthcoming book, The Weather Officer, about my father, who was one of our nation's first Black meteorologists (I had no choice but to become a weather geek). Dr. Shepherd is definitely among my dad's wildest dreams.
My kind of people!