Blogs

Member Spotlight:Tanja Fransen

By Erica Callahan posted 10 days ago
What is your job title? Meteorologist in Charge, NOAA/NWS Portland, OR What is your professional background? 31 years with the National Weather Service in Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and now Oregon/Washington How did you become interested in weather? There are several paths that interested me in weather, including a strong interest in science in general. The Limon, CO F-3 Tornado in 1990, and being a volunteer fire fighter in high school led me to a path where meteorology was an interest for me. How did you first get involved with the AMS? I joined AMS in college, and joined chapters in Southeast ...

Member Spotlight: Nicholas Bostedt

By Gideon Alegado posted 08-04-2025
Member Spotlight: Nicholas Bostedt What is your job title? Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences Student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison Junior Officer for the UW-Madison chapter for the upcoming school year How did you become interested in weather? From a young age, I was always intrigued by the clouds and the environment around me, and over time that interest grew. I knew that I always wanted to go into a field that was constantly evolving, as I have a strong passion for learning. I was always into in math and science as well, so I was able to put both of those interests together and I started to learn more about the weather and ...

Member Spotlight: Nicholas Bostedt

By Gideon Alegado posted 08-04-2025
Member Spotlight: Nicholas Bostedt What is your job title? Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences Student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison Junior Officer for the UW-Madison chapter for the upcoming school year How did you become interested in weather? From a young age, I was always intrigued by the clouds and the environment around me, and over time that interest grew. I knew that I always wanted to go into a field that was constantly evolving, as I have a strong passion for learning. I was always into in math and science as well, so I was able to put both of those interests together and I started to learn more about the ...

Member Spotlight: Vanessa Alonso

By Gideon Alegado posted 07-23-2025
Member Spotlight: Vanessa Alonso What is your job title? Morning and Digital Meteorologist at KQ2 News in St. Joseph, Missouri What is your professional background? Broadcast Meteorologist for the last 16 years. How did you become interested in weather? Meteorology has been a part of me since I was only seven years old when Category 5 Hurricane Andrew devastated my hometown of Miami, FL in August 1992. That experience with Mother Nature gave me the drive and inspiration to where I am today. I graduated from the University of Miami in 2008 as the first student to receive a Bachelor of Science in Communication in both Meteorology ...

Member Spotlight: Michael Augustyniak

By Gideon Alegado posted 06-02-2025
Member Spotlight: Michael Augustyniak What is your job title? Director of Meteorology, CBS News Minnesota/WCCO. What is your professional background? I began my career in broadcasting at age 15, when I still needed someone to drive me to work. In the last 30 years I have worked as Assistant Program Director of WGY and WOFX Radio, meteorologist at WRGB-TV in Albany, NY, and now as the meteorologist for CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley and Director of Meteorology at WCCO How did you become interested in weather? First and foremost, I credit my lab-technician dad, Ed, for fostering and encouraging my interest in science. With training from ...

Member Spotlight: Michael Augustyniak

By Gideon Alegado posted 06-02-2025
What is your job title? Director of Meteorology, CBS News Minnesota/WCCO What is your professional background? I began my career in broadcasting at age 15, when I still needed someone to drive me to work. In the last 30 years I have worked as Assistant Program Director of WGY and WOFX Radio, meteorologist at WRGB-TV in Albany, NY, and now as the meteorologist for CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley and Director of Meteorology at WCCO. How did you become interested in weather? First and foremost, I credit my lab-technician dad, Ed, for fostering and encouraging my interest in science. With training from the U.S. Air Force and on-the-job, my dad ...

Member Spotlight: Justin Pullin

By Gideon Alegado posted 05-01-2025
Member Spotlight: Justin Pullin How did you become interested in weather? My interest started in the summer of 2002 when TLC aired a series of weather shows called “Storm Force” that featured segments on floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. The segment on tornadoes really piqued my interest at the time, but Hurricane Lili affecting my hometown later that fall solidified my interest. How did you first get involved with the AMS? My AMS involvement started with my involvement in the student chapter at the University of Louisiana Monroe in the fall of 2008. I held every leadership position in the local chapter through my graduation in 2012, and then ...

Member Spotlight: Matt Lanza

By Erik Wilke posted 08-31-2022
Member Spotlight: Matt Lanza What is your job title? I have two! Lead Meteorologist for Cheniere Energy. Also, managing editor, Space City Weather. What is your professional background? I went to Rutgers University in New Jersey and got my Bachelor’s degree in meteorology, graduating in 2004. I wanted to explore broadcast meteorology so I took a part time job at WSYR (then WIXT) in Syracuse and supplemented my hours working in a Barnes & Noble. I then moved full time to WKTV in Utica, NY as the weekend met, while also filling in for others. I decided to transition out of broadcast meteorology in 2008 and started at Southern California Edison ...

Member Spotlight: Brian Curran

By Erik Wilke posted 10-08-2021
Brian Curran Science and Operations Officer DOC/NOAA/NWS WFO Midland/Odessa 1.What is your professional background? I currently serve as the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Midland, Texas since 2007. Before then, I was a senior forecaster at WFO Midland from 1998 to 2007. From 1994 to 1998, I was a general forecaster at WFO Fort Worth, Texas. I came to Fort Worth from the NWS Headquarters Meteorology Development Laboratory in Silver Spring, Maryland, where I was from 1992 to 1994. I did my NWS internship at WFO Norman, Oklahoma from 1990 to 1992, and before ...

122

By Iva Hodgins posted 08-03-2021
Welcome to the blog, here it is.

Have Traditional Reports Passed Their Use-by Date?

By Iva Hodgins posted 08-03-2021
Have Traditional Reports Passed Their Use-by Date?

Member Spotlight: Ankur Desai

By Erik Wilke posted 06-14-2021
Ankur Desai • Do you have a title? If so, what is it? I am the Reid Bryson Professor of Climate, People, and Environment in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am also the current commissioner of Science and Technological Activities for AMS and an AMS Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM). • What is your professional background? I got my bachelor’s degree, double majoring in Computer Science and Environmental Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio, a master’s in Geography from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University. Between ...

Member Spotlight: Meredith Garofalo

By Erik Wilke posted 03-31-2021
Meredith Garofalo Broadcast Meteorologist, WeatherNation What is your professional background? I have a B.S. in Meteorology and Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) seal from the AMS. I have 13 years in the broadcast business How did you become interested in weather? I was just three years old when my Mom told me her story of surviving the F-5 tornado that wiped out Xenia, Ohio during the Super Outbreak of 1974. The tornado formed across the street from where she was and touched down in the backyard. My Mom worked with the Red Cross to help victims and it was at that moment I felt it was my calling to study severe ...

Member Spotlight: Sudheer Bhimireddy

By Erik Wilke posted 09-01-2020
The AMS Member Spotlight series gives us an opportunity to highlight our members through an in-depth profile shared with the Community. Our next Member Spotlight is with Sudheer Bhimireddy, a post-doctoral research associate at Illinois State Water Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 1. Do you have a title? If so, what is it? I am currently a post-doctoral research associate at Illinois State Water Survey, located in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I joined this group in January 2020. 2. What is your professional background? What are you studying? My doctoral research is to study and model the turbulent buoyant ...

Member Spotlight: Xiaoxu Tian

By Erik Wilke posted 07-06-2020
Xiaoxu Tian Assistant Research Scientist, University of Maryland Do you have a title? If so, what is it? I am currently working as an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park. What is your professional background? My name is Xiaoxu Tian. I studied Meteorology for my bachelor’s and master’s degree at Florida State University (FSU). I moved to University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) to pursue a PhD and graduated in May 2017. My research focus has been on 1) meteorological satellite remote sensing data analysis, specifically microwave instruments, and 2) four-dimensional variational data assimilation techniques ...

Member Spotlight: Mohammad Sadrian

By Erik Wilke posted 06-01-2020
The AMS Member Spotlight series gives us an opportunity to highlight our members through an in-depth profile shared with the Community. Our next Member Spotlight is with Mohammad Sadrian, a doctoral student at the University of Nevada. What is your professional background? What are you studying? MS: My name is Mohammad Reza Sadrian, an international student in the Atmospheric Sciences Ph.D. program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Atmospheric science is the study of the structure and behavior of the atmosphere and their implications for humans and ecosystems. Within this field, I am currently focusing on gathering information and mineral dust samples ...

Member Spotlight: David Moran

By Erik Wilke posted 05-01-2020
The AMS Member Spotlight series gives us an opportunity to highlight our members through an in-depth profile shared with the Community. Our next Member Spotlight is with David Moran, a Certified Consulting Meteorologist who serves on the Board of Certified Consulting Meteorologists. Read on to learn more! What is your job title? I am a meteorologist for DTN. What is your professional background? I started out as a consulting meteorologist for Weather Decision Technologies and in 2019, I joined DTN as an operational meteorologist. How did you become interested in weather? I grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma. I’ve always enjoyed watching storms. When ...

Member Spotlight: Paul Gross

By Erik Wilke posted 04-01-2020
The AMS Member Spotlight series gives us an opportunity to highlight our members through an in-depth profile shared with the Community. Our next Member Spotlight is with Paul Gross, one of only six meteorologists ever to be named a Fellow, CCM, and CBM. Read on to learn more! What is your job title? Certified Broadcast and Consulting Meteorologist What is your professional background? Have worked at WDIV-TV, Detroit’s NBC affiliated television station, since 1983, and have consulted since 1986. How did you become interested in weather? I was terrified of storms as a little boy. My 2 nd grade teacher noticed this when a thunderstorm occurred ...

Member Spotlight: Cassandra Shivers-Williams

By Erik Wilke posted 03-03-2020
The AMS Member Spotlight series gives us an opportunity to highlight our members through an in-depth profile shared with the Community. Our next Member Spotlight is with Cassandra Shivers-Williams, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (OU CIMMS) supporting NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. Read on to learn more! What is your title? CSW: I am the Peter Lamb Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (OU CIMMS) supporting NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. What is your professional ...