Month: August 2020

OWL had their time giving a background on who OWL is and what they do. They are primarily a forecasting group emphasizing the importance of forecasting and broadcasting.

OU SCAN provides a brief background into what we are. It is the student chapter of the AMS/NWA. We went over who is on the board and the three positions that are up for election today. Dues are currently $5 for the virtual semester. Bruce Pollock talked about the Outreach committee regarding things that they do and what the Weather Friends do/are.

We had Dr. Elizabeth Smith talk about her research and her path to her Ph.D. She grew up in rural West Virginia. She did her undergrad at California University in Pennsylvania, and all of her graduate experience was at the University of Oklahoma while working with Petra Klein. She went to CIMMS for a Postdoc and joined NSSL a few years later.

She discussed her experiences throughout her education such as dealing with imposter syndrome, burnout, and having to learn on your own. Once you hit graduate school, you not only have to deal with classes – which are more self-learning – and you have to learn to perform research on top of that. Undergraduate research can be very helpful in determining what you want to do later on in graduate school.

Elizabeth works with boundary layer measurements. While working with NSSL, she has been able to help with furthering research in boundary layer measurements to help improve the observational network and our understanding of the science. She discussed the VORTEX 1 and 2 projects and how they have impacted the weather community. She uses a mobile radar and lidar to take measurements of the boundary layer which is also co-located with a mobile mesonet truck and balloon launches to help sample the area in the data gap between the surface and 1000 meters.

She talked about TORUS and the research involved with the field campaign. This includes the delay of the TORUS 2020 field campaign into TORUS 2021. Elizabeth specifically is working with a lidar that in measuring wind observations associated with supercells. Thus, they ideally can see how the storm modifies the environment around it.

The elections will occur after the joint meeting and results will be posted after votes have been collected and counted.

August 25, 2020

The main takeaway from the August Officer meeting was discussing the SCAN/OWL Join Meeting that will be held on Tuesday, September 1st from 6-8 pm CDT. It will feature Elizabeth Smith who is going to talk about tornadoes/TORUS as well as her path to becoming a research scientist.

Furthermore, the SCAN section of the meeting will feature elections for two (2) Freshman Representatives and one (1) Graduate Representative. Nominations for the positions will be via the Zoom chat. We will then have them turn on the video to present speeches and then send out a google survey for them to fill out in order to vote. Dues will need to be paid in order to be eligible to vote. Dues will be $5 for the Fall semester. We are still working to have the capability to have dues paid virtually via Venmo or PayPal.

OU SCAN is also currently taking submissions for the LCAC photo contest. We are accepting submissions through September 15th, and the chapter will end up voting on their favorite to be our chapter’s submission.

The officers are currently planning a virtual social event for September. It will be a Kahoot style of trivia night with different opportunities to play and win. 

Plans are currently underway for the October and November General meetings. We are currently planning for the October General meeting to feature a broadcast meteorologist and the November General meeting to feature diversity in the SoM.

There were other talks about fundraising for different causes like the impacts from hurricane Laura or the wildfires in California and Colorado. Stay tuned for more information about how you can help.