12/12/2023

AMS STATION SCIENTIST COMMITTEE
MEETING 12/12 @ 11am

Before we got to the meeting adgenda, we gave congratulations to Elisa Raffa who got a new job at CNN. Max Tsaparis also started a new job at News Nation. And Vanessa Alonso returned to WCBI.

We started the meeting with a mention that Mike Augustyniak is transitioning out of the commissioner role and Erica Grow taking over in 2024.

With the issue of people getting out of the business we asked Mike if these people could still volunteer with this committee. The answer was an emphatic yes! We should prioritize people who are still in the business. But we know if there's a qualified applicant, and there's not enough other people to fill all the slots on the board, we can use them.  

We voted for T.J. Springer to take over as chair of the AMS Station Scientist Committee. McCall will transition over to a volunteer role. T.J. is excited for this opportunity and looking forward to an excellent 2024.

We voted for Vanessa Alonso to take over as chair elect for 2024 with the expectation for her to become chair in 2025. Vanessa is taking on the challenge of being the chair of two boards next year. One is the new digital meteorologist board.

The 1,000 certified broadcast meteorologist (CBM) will get their seal early next year. We discussed making a big deal of this and creating graphics so everyone can display their seal on social media. 

We voted yes on new SSC members:

  • Joe Puma - WSOC
  • Jeremy Lewan - WNEP
  • Rachel Duensing - CBS 17 (NC)

We had a discussion about geographic diversity with nominees. It was frustrating because while we’d love to have all parts of the country represented, with so much movement in our business it is nearly impossible to accomplish.

We announced that Nick Merianos, Heather Waldman and Anthony Yanez will be finishing out their terms with the SSC. We thanked them for their years of service.

We finished our meeting discussing the AMS Broadcast conference in Myrtle Beach - June 12- 14th

  • Will we do a session or half day? - Vanessa
  • Abstract Submissions Open: 15 December
  • Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 February 

Some of the topics we discussed including in the SSC portion of the conference are:

  • Space weather
  • Satellites
  • Solar Maximum
  • Hurricanes, storm surge, sea level rise, rip currents
  • History of Hurricane Hugo
  • A Dr. Marshall Shepard talk
  • Climate Change

Here are the specifics:

    • Hurricanes, rising sea levels, colored posts & flood zone markers - Erica has contact with a former AMS Meeting speaker, Sam Hodge, who is the Director of Emergency Management for Horry County, where Myrtle Beach is located -  (Erica Grow) (YES)
    • Climate Change & Hurricanes (Dr. Marshall Shephard) - (Austin Chaney) & (UW Madison Dr. James Kosen - Paul or McCall) & (Princeton Dr. Tom Knutson _ Tammie) & (Dr. Allison Wing - Elisa)
    • Sky/Space (Kelly Beaty or Bill Mutoff) - Solar maximum (Paul)
    • NEW GPS Satellite - Equipment to detect space weather (Erica - SWPC)
    • Mike Cook - NASA (TJ)
      • Update on satellites - what’s up there?

More ideas to be flushed out…

  • Dr. Ellen Prager - Climate Change impact on the oceans
  • Storm Surge Mapping (NOAA) 
  • Hurricane Hunters (Cpt. Nicole Mitchell), 
  • Building codes (FLASH- Leslie Chapman Henderson) or (FEMA Director)
  • Climate reporting - ??
  • Emergency Managers about mitigation strategies. Also the difficulties of climate change and policies.
  • Cruise Line Meteorologists - ??