Meteorology on My Mind

It was that time of year again, for the American Meteorological Society's Annual Meeting.  This year, the meeting was held during the first week of February, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.  Assembling for the meeting were hundreds of meteorology professionals to discuss the latest happenings in the science.  This meeting came in the week after snow and ice shut down the metropolitan Atlanta area, and other parts of the southern United States, making the discussions at the meeting all the more pertinent.

As a aside commentary on the wintry weather situation in Atlanta and the southern United States--remember it affected more than just Atlanta--it really goes to show how communicating weather information is just as crucial as the information itself.  As of late, we're starting to see how extreme weather can have a big impact on society, and part of the process of properly responding to it and mitigating its associated effects, is for us meteorologists to learn how to effectively communicate the information we assemble, and making sure the end users know how to receive it in a way that spurs them to take the right kind of action.  Dr. Marshall Shepherd, who you shall read about later in this post, offers some perspective on this whole situation in this piece.

Being a recent college meteorology graduate, I found it well worth my time to attend the Early Career Professionals Conference (ECPC) on the afternoon of Sunday, February 2, held as one of many conferences within the larger Annual Meeting.  It was also good to have the opportunity to meet with people in the field.

That started right away while I awaited the MARTA train to take me from the Five Points station to the Dome/GWCC/Phillips Arena/CNN Center station—what a laundry list for a name.  There were two people talking on the platform about weather, one of whom, Kevin, was headed to the meeting.  He was coming straight from the airport, still carrying his luggage, where he had flown in from Indianapolis, where he works with MeteoGroup.  I felt like adding my two cents to the conversation, so I readjusted my bag so that the AMS logo was clearly visible.  The other man took note and started talking with me about weather.  Then I started talking with Kevin as we rode the train one stop over, and then as we made the long walk out of the station, past the Phillips Arena, and then into the GWCC Buildings A and B, over to Building C, which was at least a five minute walk, because the GWCC is a massive and gigantic place.  Kevin and I talked about applications of meteorology in energy, and then some.

When I saw the sign pointing toward the registration desk, we parted ways.  After I picked up my materials, I dashed over to one of the exhibit halls to take a quick peek at WeatherFest, a family fun event always held the Sunday of the AMS Meeting week.  It looked like there were a lot of nice activities, and I was glad to see so many families with children in the GWCC headed to WeatherFest, to enjoy the fun of weather.

Shortly before 1 PM, I was in my seat in the meeting room that served as the main location for the ECPC.  After a few welcoming remarks, we numbered off 1-2-3, and then broke into three groups for small group interactive discussions.  The topics in the discussions focused on how to how to be a leader in one's job, how to keep the job, and diversity in the workplace.  The idea is that we learn technical skills in school, but school doesn't always emphasize leadership and diversity courses, so this conference is filling in that gap.  It’s one of the ways the AMS is seeking to continue supporting individuals after they leave school and while they are starting their careers in meteorology.  This particular conference was being held for the second time ever.

In the leadership discussion, we shared character qualities we recognize in leaders, and not necessarily people who have a “leader” title, which speaks to how we can be leaders, no matter our position in the workplace.  In the keeping one’s job discussion, we shared about things we can do in and out of the work place to show initiative in being involved.  And in the diversity discussion, we discussed diversity in society, and then did a case study, seeking to resolve divisiveness in a workplace situation based on diversity principles.  The two big take-away points were the laws regarding discrimination and how diversity is an asset in enhancing workplace productivity.

The overall take-away points from the discussions were that the things we do to engage meaningfully in the workplace are as simple as being open, collaborating well, and other life skills, and the key is to practice them to make them a reality.  That's the hard part, and why companies have to invest a lot in human resources division to help their employees work well together, and not fall into politicking.

Following a coffee break, which also included tea, the outgoing AMS President, Dr. Marshall Shepherd, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Georgia in Athens, made a few remarks.  Then there were two panel discussions, with opportunity for the audience to ask lots of questions.  The first was with AMS leadership about opportunities available to us as early career professionals.  It included Ken Carey and Dr. Louis Uccellini, former AMS president and current NWS director.  The second panel discussion had early career professionals discuss their work, and how they are successful, as well as offering advice for us.

The conference concluded at 5 PM.  I then made my way to the exhibits.  Sunday evening featured student posters.  Four ValpU students had posters on display, and it was nice to see them and learn a little bit about what they've worked on, as well as catching up with some of the other ValpU students who came to the conference—a sizable group of 22.  I also went to a reception, with appetizers and a carving station that had my favorite, turkey.

Things were winding down around 7 PM, especially on account of a certain major sports event.  I stepped back to my hotel for a bit.  Then, I headed back to the OMNI Hotel at the CNN Center, next door to the (east side of the) GWCC, for the Early Career Professionals reception at 9 PM.  I made the rounds over the next couple of hours, talking with a number of people about what they’re doing in meteorology, mostly a lot of graduate students and their research work.  One professor I spoke with told me about his work helping a Native American tribal group deal with the effects of drought on their supplies of sacred plants.

I also had the chance to briefly chat with Dr. Shepherd in person.  It was quite something to have the opportunity to meet him in person after having seen him appear in the recent White House "We the Geeks" Google+ Hangout on the Polar Vortex and Climate Change, and the NOVA program "Killer Typhoon" on Supertyphoon Haiyan.  And I spoke with Ken Carey, an AMS fellow, and who I met at the NWA meeting back in October, and the AMS Executive Director, Keith Seitter.  I also enjoyed partaking of the spread of desserts, including cake, cookies, and fruit tarts.  And I won an AMS t-shirt in a raffle of business cards, of which I handed out plenty.

Being at the conference was a great opportunity to meet with people in the field, and engage in this field in which I hold great interest.  I go forth, remaining ever confident about the opportunities there are, and waiting to seize upon the right one, knowing it will be of great service to society at large.

Here I am at the AMS Annual Meeting sign in the GWCC.  Below is a close-up of my conference badge.

An inside look at the GWCC, Building C, west side