Please include details about your educational background and what sparked your interest in atmospheric or related sciences.

My degrees are all from the University of Arizona, with a Bachelors of Science in Atmospheric Sciences (2003), Masters of Science in Atmospheric Science (2007), and Doctorate of Philosophy in Arid Land Resource Sciences (Emphasis Meteorology/Climatology, 2012). My interest in meteorology was sparked from my father, who was a meteorologist for the US Air Force and Army before retiring, and my wanting to understand how lightning was caused from thunderstorms. I am one of the few who in my elementary school days decided that meteorology was what I wanted to do, and I am greatly enjoying my career to this day.

What was your first job in the field and how did you end up in the job you are in now?

My first job in the field was the Science & Operations Officer position with the 25th Operational Weather Squadron (25 OWS), United States Air Force. The role was the first ever created for the unit, and was encouraged to emulate how the Science & Operations Officer for the National Weather Service worked. In the case of the 25 OWS, having the ability to determine what role could entail while also staying on top of cutting-edge science and being involved in the unit's training regimen was an exciting opportunity. I credit this role with helping me develop my initial leadership skills in front of professionals who held the same level of enthusiasm/interest in meteorology as I did. Upon finishing my time in this role, I was promoted to help direct the 25 OWS unit's overall training and standards program, which gave me a peek into the supervisory role for the federal government.

After 4 years at the 25 OWS, I was selected to become a Journey Forecaster at NWS Pendleton, OR and helped oversee the climate program for the office. The ability to interact with state partners about drought and potential climate change issues was exciting. However, I missed being able to lead training and that is how I found my way to the National Weather Service Amarillo, TX SOO position.

What opportunities did you pursue that you knew would be beneficial to securing a job in the profession?

I regularly pursued opportunities that helped me with leadership, managing teams or people, and also allowed me to stay up-to-date on weather forecasting techniques. Though initially it looked like I was pursuing the academic side of meteorology, it later turned out that I enjoyed translating the science and training others in an operational environment much more. In order to help stay on top of that, I regularly attended National Weather Association and American Meteorological Society conferences, the latter of which was where I was offered my first job (AMS 2009, Phoenix, AZ). You never know when someone attending your presentation may actually be using it as part of a job interview process, especially if it is relevant to the employer's interest.

What other courses/skills beyond the required math and science courses do you think would be the most helpful to individuals wanting a career in your profession?

As a Science & Operations Officer, I am charged with assisting and training others on the AWIPS computer systems that meteorologists use in operations. The base programming skills needed to do this include Python, knowing how to use Linux/Unix, and also being aware of Redhat interfaces for server purposes. Though many of these roles fall on the Information Technology Officer (ITO) at the office, there may come a time where the position is vacant and that becomes the SOO's responsibility.

The other techniques that a forecaster should know is how to work with ArcGIS and other GIS applications. The data that we use at a National Weather Service office heavily originates from, can be utilized with, or be incorporated alongside GIS data outputs. Knowing how to interact or examine the input/output of GIS will help you go far in the meteorology career field.

Finally, I would encourage individuals wanting a career in meteorology to develop their leadership and social interaction skills. A clear majority of meteorologists are introverted by nature, yet a majority of what we do within the National Weather Service requires us to interact with people on the phone, brief emergency managers in person, conduct media interviews and/or manage teams in a stressful environment.

What is your typical day on the job like?

The typical thing about my job is that each day is not typical. The most important part of my day is ensuring that operations is appropriately staffed and ready to handle any weather anticipated that day and several days into the future. If that is covered, and I am not working shift, I will then turn my attention towards managerial matters like checking training currency, assessing operational staff readiness, and interacting with external partners (e.g., universities, EMs, and such). If there is a training exercise or staff meeting in the near future, I will work to develop the materials and guide others to help cover subjects important to the office for both. I will also spend time conducting research, reviewing scientific literature and keeping up with administrative tasks assigned to me as they come.

What do you like most about your job? What is the most challenging thing about your job?

Being a Science & Operations Officer allows me to train, mentor and help manage the operational aspects of National Weather Service Amarillo. In addition, I conduct regular outreach to universities, emergency management, and various officials at all levels (e.g., federal, state, city) in order to determine research projects of interest as well as figure out how I can bridge the gap from the forecaster to the customer. When high impact weather strikes the area of responsibility for which I manage, then being able to work with the forecasters in real time to help diagnose the environment (possibly doing just-in-time training) is one that I greatly enjoy.

As is usually the case in a managerial role, the most challenging aspects of my job revolve around different personalities and opinions on how our office can approach a given situation. Sometimes these differences can rise to the point of conflict, which someone in a leadership position must be able to help deal with and mitigate. The other challenging aspect of my job is the rotating shift work. Though I am not in the rotation as I once was in previous roles, it is still there when our office is shorthanded or there are lots of folks on vacation.

Does your job allow for a good work/life balance? If not, why?

The job can allow for good work/life balance if I actively make an effort to avoid following work e-mails or am not called upon to address a problem. As a manager, one could be called upon to act as a supervisor, which means that you are the go-to person no matter time of day or week to address certain issues at an office. Knowing this is a challenging aspect if an issue arises while going to an important life event or having to figure out things that one can do. Though you can actively anticipate what could happen to avoid it impacting your work/life balance, there will be situations where surprises can (and regularly do) happen.

Another hard part of maintaining this balance is through the rotating shift work that those in the meteorologist (non-managerial) positions work throughout the year. Working evening shifts can prevent you from seeing your family much during a day, and midnight shifts may make you quite tired for any evening engagements. There is also the likelihood that you will have to work holidays and weekends that could further complicate the work/life balance issue.

Over the course of your career what is the most exciting thing that has happened to you?

The most exciting thing that has happened in my career is being deployed to the Carlton Complex Wildfire in Washington state in late July 2015. This was part of my Incident Meteorology (IMET) training, where IMETs deploy to Type I Incident Management Teams that help manage large, complex disasters/events. In this case, a wildfire had grown quickly from thousands of acres to over 250,000 acres in the span of a couple of days owing to thunderstorms in the area. Though the days were long (18-hour shifts) and the requests were demanding, being able to see your forecast be incorporated into daily decisions made by wildland firefighters helped grant a perspective on the importance of our career field (meteorology). After the storms had passed, and the fight turned to holding wildfire lines, each forecast I was tasked with putting together would be a make-or-break decision in whether a certain tactic was employed that day. About midway into this deployment, severe thunderstorms were forecast to impact the fire creating the potential for flash flooding and mudslides. Being aware of radars available in the area, and relaying to fire managers a severe thunderstorm warning 30 minutes before it struck the incident area (NWS Spokane later matched), they pulled all firefighters off the line. I was later told that had that alert not gone out, thousands of firefighers might have been at risk from the slope failures (mudslides) that later occurred.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently in your career?    

I do wish I had taken more time to develop those parts of my leadership skills that would help with conflict management. Though early in my career, conflict was addressed differently than it is in the civilian sector, it is truly a different matter in and of itself on how one approaches it. I would also have taken more opportunity to develop my Emotional Quotient (EQ) in order to improve my interpersonal and communication skills both internally and externally. Aside from these aspects, I have been most honored with all the opportunities that have been presented to me so far in my career.

What are some ‘must haves’’ on a resume if a person wants to gain employment in your field?

Aside from holding a degree in Meteorology or Atmospheric Sciences, we often look at those with Master's degrees or Bachelor's degree with some demonstration of experience. The reason for this is that candidates applying to the National Weather Service have increased nearly ten fold, with an entry level Meteorologist position easily having around 100 applicants at a time. So if you have not sought out your local NWS office to volunteer and/or worked as a pathway intern, then private sector or related experience will be explored to help stratify our candidates. In terms of individual qualifications, we seek out any candidates that show initiative, is capable of handling stressful environments, can multitask especially during busy events, and show that they can work with others. Having references, or even letters of recommendation, help us figure out whether the candidate has the temperament to work at a given office, with us often times calling them along with former supervisors/employers to glean information that may help us decide. To reach to the management level of the National Weather Service, having the ability to program, conduct outreach work and program (especially in Python/GIS) will help you go far in the career path at the agency.