Service
I have served in multiple leadership roles in my time at FSU, some of which have also offered direct opportunities to get out into the community!
1. North Florida Chapter of the American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association (AMS/NWA) - This organization serves North Florida, Southeast Alabama, and Southwest Georgia. Composed mainly of FSU meteorology students, it offers chances for networking, professional development, and community service projects ranging from local cleanups to judging at science fairs, and even partnering with the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee to distribute weather preparedness information.
I have been an active member since my freshman year in 2014, and was the 2016 Member of the Year for my involvement within the group. In 2016-2017, I was the Vice President. My main tasks were to contact prospective speakers for meetings, plan these events, and organize our end-of-year banquet. I later was elected President for the 2019-2020 term, focusing on expanding our professional development opportunities for members and increasing our presence within the national AMS/NWA. We expanded our membership to over 60 people, and sent nearly 30 to the AMS Annual Meeting in Boston in January 2020. With these efforts, we were named the 2020 AMS Chapter of the Year! I intend to remain active through my graduation in 2022.
2. FSU Weather - This is a 30-minute, student-produced TV weather show. I joined the team in September 2015, a few weeks into taking FSU's Weathercasting class. While I initially was not interested in broadcast meteorology, I quickly saw the unique challenge and value of weather communication, and found myself enjoying it quite a bit! I appeared on dozens of shows during the 2015-2016 year to build my skills, then was named a Team Leader (Producer) for the Summer 2016-Spring 2017 semesters. In this role, I was responsible for building the show's layout, graphics, and lineup of on-air talent for my day of the week (Tuesdays in Summer 2016, Wednesdays in Fall 2016-Spring 2017). I have "semi-retired" from the show since finishing my Master's, but still step into the studio from time to time to appear on air or run the controls in the background. Using the show's equipment and graphics, we have also been able to develop "FSU Weather on Wheels", a mobile weathercasting setup to give kids in the Tallahassee area a chance to do their own broadcast! Check out the show weeknights at 6:00 PM Eastern at this link.
3. Scientist in Every Florida School - This statewide initiative run by the Thompson Earth Systems Institute at the University of Florida connects K-12 teachers across Florida with scientists, who volunteer to visit classrooms to help teach scientific concepts to students. I have done more than a dozen virtual visits for the SEFS program, partnering with members of our research group as well as Dr. Hannah Hiester of FSU's "Science on the Move" program. Topics I've presented include "Weather In A Tank" experiments, information about hurricanes and how we collect data on them, as well as differentiating between weather and climate. I intend to remain active in the program through my remaining time in Florida, then participate in the similar, but nationwide "Skype a Scientist" program.
4. Chi Epsilon Pi Meteorology Honor Society - Taking over as President in 2017, I was in charge of planning our annual banquet and induction ceremony for undergraduate and graduate meteorology students exhibiting academic excellence. Our last banquet prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was in April 2019, where we hosted FSU alumnus Dr. Rick Knabb, Hurricane Expert at The Weather Channel and former director of the National Hurricane Center.
5. WxChallenge Local Manager - In this role, I help FSU students and alumni taking part in the national WxChallenge forecasting contest. I mainly register our forecasters and alert them of changes to the assigned city. But I also serve as a liaison between our forecasters and the directors if issues arise with the website, weather observing stations, etc.
6. AMS Student Conference Planning Committee - Joining this group in 2021, I contributed to meeting topics, prospective speakers, and social media promotion for the 2022-2023 AMS Student Conferences, held in Houston and Denver. Follow @AMSStudentConf on Twitter and @ams_student_conf on Instagram to keep up with our plans!