Chapter News July 2008

ARK-LA-TEX

The Ark-La-Tex Chapter of the American Meteorological Society held its 3rd meeting of 2008 on July 22nd at the Bossier Office of the Caddo/Bossier Dept. of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Bossier City. The meeting began at 715pm, with seven members present. Chapter President Jason Hansford presided over the election of a new Secretary, vacated by Jason Noren due to a reassignment of duty station to Alaska. Marcy Novak, a new member to the local chapter, was nominated and elected as new chapter Secretary, to fill out Noren’s term through the end of the year. A discussion was also held to gather suggestions for the next meeting tentatively scheduled for mid-August.

The featured speaker was LTC Gene Barattini, Assistant Director of Operations and Logistics for the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.  Barattini spoke on the role of the Caddo-Bossier OHSEP within the local community, and their interaction with first responders on a local, state, and federal level. Response efforts to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were highlighted in his presentation, as Shreveport/Bossier City provided temporary housing for a month and a half to over 4000 residents displaced by these two 2005 hurricanes, which devastated much of the Gulf Coast Region from Southeast Texas to the Mississippi/Alabama coast. Barattini also spoke on how the Caddo-Bossier OHSEP actively participated in search and rescue operations for survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, by sending members of the Shreveport/Bossier City Fire Dept. and associated rescue teams/equipment to the ravaged city. His presentation concluded with efforts the local office is doing in preparing for a possible pandemic that may arise, through the use of federal grant money to purchase various medical supplies. A short question and answer session followed.  

The following members were present:

Jason Hansford (President)

Todd Warren (Vice President)

Marcy Novak (Secretary)

Leslie Sexton (Treasurer)

Jason Bobo (student member)

Doug Butts

Brian Walter      

The meeting adjourned at 845 pm.---Jason Hansford/Marcy Novak.

OREGON

Annual Summer Picnic

About 30 members and guests attended this fun event.  The Picnic was hosted by new member, John Platt, who is the owner of Helvetia Winery (http://www.helvetiawinery.com).  It has been over 20 years since our chapter held the Picnic at a winery.  We had lots of great food to share.  Afterwards, John took us on a walking tour of his winery and vineyards.  He stressed the critical importance of weather forecasting to vineyard operations.  We all had a great time.  Photos of our Picnic can be found on the chapter website: http://www.ametsoc.org/chapters/oregon/index.html.---Kyle Dittmer.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN

The July meeting of the Smoky Mountain Chapter was held the evening of the 21st. A few people met first for dinner at Calhoun's on the River in Knoxville, and then around 20 people convened for the meeting in the Plant Biotech Building on the University of Tennessee Ag campus. Our speaker was Dr. Joshua Fu (Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee) who spoke about a very timely topic: "Air Quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games".

The following was an abstract of his talk: "China is taking major steps to improve Beijing’s air quality for the 2008 Olympic Games. However, concentrations of fine particulate matter and ozone in Beijing often exceed healthful levels in the summertime. Based on the US EPA’s Models-3/CMAQ model simulation over the Beijing region, we estimate that about 34% of PM2.5 on average and 35–60% of ozone during high ozone episodes at the Olympic Stadium site can be attributed to sources outside Beijing. Neighboring Hebei and Shandong Provinces and the Tianjin Municipality all exert significant influence on Beijing’s air quality. During sustained wind flow from the south, Hebei Province can contribute 50–70% of Beijing’s PM2.5 concentrations and 20–30% of ozone. Controlling only local sources in Beijing will not be sufficient to attain the air quality goal set for the Beijing Olympics. There is an urgent need for regional air quality management studies and new emission control strategies to ensure that the air quality goals for 2008 are met."

Dr. Fu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee. The focus of his research work includes ozone and PM emission and AQ modeling in State of TN, US and Asia by using Models-3/CMAQ and CAMx; development of real-time mobile source emissions for AQ models, international air quality modeling assessment; global climate change with the effects of air quality; development of cost-effective control strategies and alternative standards for managing tropospheric ozone and particulate matter; development of environmental decision support system on identification and demonstration of large-scale environmental management and policies; information technology research on the applications of a large-scale global climate and air quality modeling assessment.---David Gaffin.

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT MONROE

The University of Louisiana at Monroe Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society is planning for the return of students to ULM for the Fall 2008 semester.  The executive committee and some AMS volunteers will return to campus on August 11, 2008 for AMS Officer Week.  The officers and volunteers will set out to improve the WRC (Weather Research Center) and to move into the new AMS Office on the third floor of Hanna Hall.  The WRC will undergo a new paint job and revamp.  New computer workstations will be set up.  The AMS is trying to set up the WRC not only as a study room for Atmospheric Science Majors and other Geosciences students but also as an office for WRC business. 

The officers and volunteers will be organizing the New AMS Office during AMS Officer Week.  The office is needed for the AMS to keep records and store merchandise from past sales.  The office will also serve as a meeting place for AMS Officer Meetings and Committee Meetings.  This will also be a place for members to go to in order to pay dues, buy AMS merchandise, and to pick up agendas from past meetings.

WRIGHT MEMORIAL

July Newsletter. ---Paul Gehred.

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