March 2008
March was a busy and active month for PSUBAMS. Pete Jung, a hydrologist from the National Weather Service in State College, PA spoke to PSUBAMS about his career experiences. He provided both basic and technical information about hydrology. On the most basic level he stressed the dangers of flooding and provided unnerving statistics. He explained the various ways flooding can occur; particularly tailoring his discussion to Pennsylvania. The second portion of his discussion focused on hydrology in the National Weather Service. Mr. Jung discussed the various hydrological positions available including the monetary and scheduling aspects of the positions. Many PSUBAMS members were pleased to learn that there is a need for hydrologists in the National Weather Service. He concluded his presentation with typical questions and tasks that a hydrologist must answer on a daily basis. Mr. Jung’s presentation was incredibly informative and beneficial for all PSUBAMS members.
In addition to the hydrology meeting, PSUBAMS sent four of its members to the Northeastern Storm Conference in Springfield, Massachusetts in mid March. The conference was hosted by Lyndon State, and many schools from across the Northeast were in attendance. The talks were geared toward storms on all levels, ranging from the microphysics of bow echoes to the impacts the Great Lakes have on convection. Attendees had the chance to listen to many prominent speakers such as Chris Landsea from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, FL and Greg Holland from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. These two speakers are respected hurricane experts but their views vary on the effects of global warming and hurricane activity. Since students comprised the majority of the conference, in addition to the lectures, there was a panel discussion with professional meteorologists. The small setting of this discussion created a personal feel between students and the panel. The panel consisted of Ken Carey, Garett Argianas, Zack Byko, John Krasting, and Thomas Wasula. These men represent various aspects of meteorology including private industry, the military, graduate school, television, and the National Weather Service. We hope to increase the attendance of PSUBAMS members at this conference next year!
Aside of meetings and conferences, PSUBAMS held a t-shirt logo contest. The winning design was chosen and PSUBAMS t-shirts will be available soon. The t-shirts are an excellent way to keep the moral of the department high as well as strengthen the bond throughout the department. PSUBAMS is gearing up for its annual elections on April 10th, 2008. We have had a wonderful and productive year with our current officers and hope that the next years to come will be just as successful.
~ Maria Zatko
February 2008
February was a month of new opportunities for the Penn State Branch of the AMS. Seven PSUBAMS members attended the first annual StormFest Conference sponsored by the Southwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Meteorological Society. PSUBAMS members attended the event on a Sunday at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, alongside students from California University of Pennsylvania, Millersville University, and others. The event was an overall success, numerous and informational student research presentations, as well as speakers from the professional meteorological world. These professional speakers included Severe Weather Expert Dr. Greg Forbes from The Weather Channel®, Jamie Rhome from The National Hurricane Center, Kevin Scharfenberg from the National Severe Storms Laboratory and Bob Hamilton from the National Weather Service Center in Buffalo, New York. Along with the student presentations and numerous presenters, PSUBAMS members were able to learn more about various aspects of meteorology and create networking opportunities between students in meteorology and atmospheric science programs across Pennsylvania.
PSUBAMS members in Pittsburgh, PA attending the First Annual Stormfest Conference sponsored by Southwestern PA chapter of the American Meteorological Society
On campus, we planned and executed the first annual PSUBAMS movie night as a social event for the PSUBAMS members and Penn State meteorology students. The movie voted on and selected by many members for this event was The Perfect Storm, which attendees watched and enjoyed very much needed study break for those in attendance.
February was also a month of planning for PSUBAMS events in March. Specifically March will prove to be bustling, beginning with four PSUBAMS members attending the Northeastern Storm Conference in Springfield, MA. PSUBAMS is also looking forward to many interesting and informative meteorology speakers throughout the rest of the semester.
~ Maria Zatko
Fall 2007 PSUBAMS Summary
The PSUBAMS Fall 2007 semester provided a wealth of exciting and enriching
opportunities for all members of PSUBAMS and the Penn State Meteorology
department. Combined with energy, enthusiasm, and a consistently robust
attendance rate, PSUBAMS has provided much career growth for its members.
The semester kicked off with a PSUABMS/CWS Meet-the-Faculty outing to The
State College Spikes minor league baseball game. The first official
meeting of the year featured with helpful words from Ken Graham,
Scientific Services Division chief at the NWS Southern Region
Headquarters. Mr. Graham spoke of opportunities within the National
Weather Service and provided tips for students aspiring to become future
NWS employees. Dr. George Young, a Professor of Meteorology at Penn State
also spoke at the September meeting. Dr. Young presented an overview of
his research on synthetic aperture radar.
October proved to be a productive and informative month for PSUBAMS. The
featured guest for our graduate school meeting was Dr. Eugene Clothiax, a
Penn State meteorology professor and the graduate school admissions
officer for the Penn State’ graduate meteorology program. The most crucial
elements of graduate school were addressed during this meeting, including
application time frame, GPA, and undergraduate research. Our second
October meeting consisted of twelve current Penn State undergraduates who
spoke of their summer internship experiences. Diverse mixes of
meteorological career options were represented by these internships
including opportunities from the private sector, government, nonprofit
organizations, and the broadcast field. In addition to our meetings, Dr.
John G. W. Kelley, a research meteorologist for the Marine Modeling and
Analysis Programs at NOAA's Coast Survey Development Laboratory and Penn
State Alum, presented a special seminar titled "NOAA's GIS Web Mapping
Portal to Real-Time Coastal Observations and Forecasts." This seminar was
a great opportunity for PSUBAMS members to learn more about the connection
between GIS tools and Meteorology.
The 4th annual PSUBAMS/CWS date auction occurred on November 9th, 2007.
75% of the proceeds benefited THON, a Penn State student-run and organized
philanthropy to help in the fight against pediatric cancer. This year’s
date auction raised over 1000 dollars. On November 30th, Jim Berman,
General Manager from WHP-CBS 21 in Harrisburg came to Penn State to speak
to students about the world of television and television meteorology. He
focused on the application process for broadcast meteorology in a
television station. Also, the PSUBAMS photo contest occurred in November.
The winning photographs were featured in this year’s PSUBAMS Weather
Calendar. The photos chosen highlight the vast array of experiences had by
our PSUBAMS members including a wall cloud, a beautiful sunset over the
Delaware River, and an Alaskan glacier.
In early December, Dr. John Scala, both a television and private
consultant meteorologist, spoke to PSUBAMS about his current research
project involving a case study of the December 1st, 2006 tornado outbreak
in Pennsylvania. He was an inspirational speaker for all members since Dr.
Scala has had a broad range of meteorological experiences.
Throughout the semester, PSUBAMS planned for the 2008 AMS Annual Meeting
in New Orleans. PSUBAMS, in cooperation with the Penn State Department of
Meteorology, Campus Weather Service, and the University Park Allocation
Committee was able to fully pay for 19 Penn State meteorology students to
attend the 2008 event.
PSUBAMS has provided the department with knowledge and opportunities for a
successful and productive future in meteorology. We look forward to an
equally beneficial and informative spring semester.
Happy Holidays!
~ Maria Zatko
87th AMS Annual Meeting Recap
The 87th Annual American Meteorological Society Conference was held in San Antonio, Texas this year from January 13th thru January 18th, 2007. The 6th Annual Student Conference kicked things off on January 13th. Approximately 400 undergraduate and graduate students from schools across the country attended the opening festivities.
Opening remarks came from the outgoing President of the AMS, Franco Einaudi. Following him, was a Welcome from Your Peers. There were several ice breaker events held throughout the weekend in order to get to know students from different schools including a networking luncheon.
There were many speakers at the Student Conference who were broken up into various sessions. There were seven sessions: Proven Career Paths are Waiting For You, Conversations with Professionals, A How-to guide for Life After Graduation, A How to Guide for College Part II, Panel of Young Professionals, Panel of Graduate Students and Weather Outside the Lines. These sessions provided a wide variety of information to the students in attendance.
On Saturday night there was a networking reception. This reception was a Career Fair for students looking to speak to a variety of weather businesses and a Graduate School Fair for students looking to continue their education and research. On Sunday afternoon, the AMS held their 6th Annual WeatherFest. This weather exhibition is a hands-on and weather show for everyone, including the public. On Sunday night, students presented posters about their research on wide-ranging studies.
For the next several days, hundreds of meteorologists from around the world presented their research and studies. The choices were endless from last year’s weather events to climate change. More than 100 companies from around the world showed off their products and services in Exhibit Hall.
The 87th Annual AMS Conference brought together 2,500 meteorologists from across the globe to share thoughts, research and ideas to others in the field.
From all of the officers, thanks to all who attended and we look forward to being able to get more members of PSUBAMS to go to the 88th Annual AMS Conference in New Orleans, LA next year!
~ Bryan T. Oshinski
PSUBAMS FALL 2006 SEMESTER RECAP
During the past semester, the Penn State Branch of the American Meteorological Society has seen a dramatic increase in the quality of meetings and activities as well as the number students attending them. Membership and enthusiasm have risen significantly, which seems fitting for the largest and arguably the finest meteorology program in the nation. Also, PSUBAMS launched its own website: http://psubams.met.psu.edu. This site provides all meteorology students an opportunity to get in touch with the officers and visit their web pages, see the schedule of events and past news, have access to important meteorology links and presenters PowerPoints, as well as read the monthly synopsis sent to the AMS. PSUBAMS is also proud to announce their recent announcement by the AMS, of placing PSUBAMS on the AMS CHAPTER HONOR ROLL.
SPEAKERS/MEETINGS Carl McCalla, of NOAA's Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) / Student Career Experience Program (SCEP), spoke about the great opportunities for students to work with experts in the development of scientific techniques for use in NWS operations. Former Penn State professor, Dr. Craig Bohren, showed us an application of the physics and thermodynamics that we have learned, to an everyday phenomenon, SMELLING. He educated those in attendance about olfactory training with his dogs and how the weather may affect a dogs trail of scent. Dr. Ray Najjar, professor in the departments of meteorology and geosciences, spoke at the final meeting of the semester about his research on DMS along with his other experiences in Antarctica.
Along with these distinguished speakers PSUBAMS hosted an internship meeting to help students further their education outside of Penn State and a graduate school meeting with Dr. Clothiaux, for those preparing themselves for further study in the field.
OTHER ACTIVITIES As an ice breaker in the early fall, PSUBAMS organized an outing to a nearby minor league baseball game that served as a meet the faculty event. A date auction was held to raise money for charity. PSUBAMS also held a photo contest, in the fall. Winners of the photo contest were featured in the PSUBAMS annual calendar that was for sale to all students and faculty during the holiday season.
ANNUAL MEETING PSUBAMS worked hard in coordination with the Campus Weather Service to obtain funding from the Penn State University Park Allocation Committee to send 18 students to the 2007 annual AMS conference in San Antonio. Many other students obtained other funding sources (AMS grants, etc.) at the urging of the PSUBAMS officers, and approximately 30 Penn State students will attend the annual meeting.
~ Bryan T. Oshinski