Three professional meteorologists and many aspiring meteorologists attended the New England Storm Conference.
The American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association club at Lyndon State runs the annual Northeastern Storm Conference. The conference is the largest student run conference in the country. Students, teachers, and meteorologists from around the eastern United States come to learn more about the latest scientific findings and network with others in the field.
Students from Lyndon State as well as SUNY, Cornell, and Plymouth State, among others, attended this year’s conference. The conference was held over the weekend of March 11 in Taunton, Mass, right down the street from a National Weather Service office.
During the conference students and professionals gave 20-minute talks on topics ranging from the life of a snowflake to field experience with tornadoes. Through these presentations students were able to showcase what they’ve been working on and receive input from professionals and peers.
One of three Keynote speakers, Ken Carey, chair of AMS’s Board for Private Sector Meteorologists and part of NWS’s Professional Development Committee, spoke about networking and the importance of being connected as part of the Friday night ice-breaker.
Former winter weather expert for the Weather Channel, Paul Kocin, spoke at the Saturday night banquet about the recent winter storms that influenced even the most unlikely parts of the country. After his speech Kocin answered questions and signed copies of his book “Northeast Snowstorms”.
Matt Noyes, weeknight meteorologist at NECN, gave insight on keeping the science in broadcast meteorology. Noyes stressed that though it may seem easy to get lost in the hype of big weather events, it is the job of the meteorologist to base their forecasts on the scientific facts rather than embellishing what’s going on.
“I love this conference so much that I kept coming back,” Noyes said. “Even after I graduated from Cornell.”
Noyes spoke one-on-one with aspiring broadcast meteorologists, getting to know them and offering to keep in contact for future advice or questions.
The NWS offered tours of their facility to those who were interested. The tour included an inside look at what the employees do on a daily basis and the programs they use.
“I’m glad that I took the tour,” said sophomore Alex Lee. “Because now I know which tracks in meteorology I want to study.”
The AMS club had problems with debt prior to holding the conference. The club needed to raise
about eight thousand dollars in just a few months. They received donations, held numerous fundraisers, and were able to pay back the debt and organize the conference on time.