Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science

Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Dr. Jon Nese j 2 n@psu. edu @jmnese Associate Head, Undergraduate Programs

Majoring in Meteorology and Atmospheric Science in College Modern meteorologists do a lot more than just forecasting the weather on TV ! They work in air quality, data analysis, risk management, scientific programming, environmental planning, energy forecasting, commodity trading, and a whole host of other applied fields, some of which are only loosely connected to atmospheric science!

What gives you the right to call yourself a meteorologist?

What education gives you the right to call yourself a meteorologist? Note: There is at least one university that offers an online B. S. program that requires no background in calculus or physics. • This is NOT equivalent to obtaining a BS in the Atmospheric Sciences, yet MANY people complete this program and then call themselves “meteorologists” on TV (or the news directors at the stations simply don’t care). • It’s great that people want to improve their knowledge, but such folks should call themselves “weathercasters” NOT meteorologists. But that’s not what happens, and nobody enforces it.

What’s the average number of students (over last 10 yr) who graduate from the Penn State Meteorology program per year with a B. S. degree? a. b. c. d. 40 48 56 64

University Meteorology Programs Where should you go for information? • National Weather Association has lists of universities offering degrees in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences and related fields (http: //nwas. org/membership/committees/education/colleges-universities/). • Googling “Best Meteorology Schools” can help, but there will be credibility issues, as with everything on web

What’s important as you consider where to go to college? Faculty Curriculum Facilities Reputation Alumni Cost Extracurriculars

Walker Building Home of the Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science since 1977 4 th, 5 th, 6 th floors & Basement Labs 6 th floor Myers Weather Center

About how many degrees (BS + MS + Ph. D) has the Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science granted in its history? a. 1500 b. 3000 c. 4000 d. 6000

Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Students 200 -250 undergraduates (freshman to senior) and 60 graduate students. Typical upper-division Meteorology class will have 10 -30 students. Graduate ~50 B. S. per year … Since 1942, ~3000 B. S. degrees, 750 M. S. and 230 Ph. D. Our alumni are EVERYWHERE!

Atmospheric Science Calculus Chemistry Programming Physics MODERN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENTIST Statistics Communications

Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Required: Meteorology (9 -10 courses), Calculus (4), Physics (2), Comp Sci, Statistics, Chemistry Plus professional electives (significant flexibility) Five “Options” available: Atmospheric Sciences Environmental Meteorology Weather Forecasting and Communications Weather Risk Management “General” Option

Which of the following is NOT a course offered by the Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science? a. b. c. d. Planetary Atmospheres Weather Risk and Financial Markets Physical Oceanography Satellite Climatology

Penn State Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Sampling of Professional Electives Tropical Meteorology Weather Risk and Financial Markets Planetary Atmospheres Computer Methods of Meteorological Analysis Professional Development in the Atmospheric Sciences Advanced Forecasting Air Quality Forecasting Radar Meteorology Atmospheric Chemistry and Cloud Physics Introduction to Physical Oceanography Weather Communications I & III

Just for fun … Which of the following is closest to how the Earth’s orbit around the Sun looks (you are looking “down” on the solar system from above)? A B C D

Career Opportunities USA today article: June 26, 2019

What Do our B. S. Graduates Do? In order of popularity … -- Work in the Private Sector -- Go to Graduate School (pursue M. S. or Ph. D) -- Work in Television (10 -15%) -- Work in the Public Sector (government) -- Go into the Military -- Work in Education

What Do Our B. S. graduates do? Unknown (9%) Other (9%) Education (<1%) Gov’t (2%) Graduate School (29%) Military (4%) TV (10%) Private Sector (37%) * Other = Working, but not in scientific field. Includes all 251 B. S. graduates from the classes of 2012 -16

Private Sector • Highest-paying entry level positions with a BS in Meteorology • Typical initial salaries $25 -65 K, depending on your skill sets • Huge variety of employers in fields such as forecasting, energy trading, air quality consulting, climate consulting, risk management, web development, meteorological programming, and data analysis

Companies / Organizations where BS grads from 2015 -2019 got jobs • • • • Innogy SE Radiant Solutions Resurety, INC ARM Group, Inc Penn. DOT JLT Reinsurance Weather. Works, LLC The Weather Channel IGS Energy Chubb Insurance Customized Energy Florida Emergency Management South Jersey Industries IGS Energy • • • • Raytheon Marcus Weather Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyberdata Technologies Amazon AEON Corporation Red-Spark. com GAMA-1 Technologies Weathernews, Inc Air Force Cape Canaveral Merck Weatherbell Global Indemnity Group Fleetweather

Companies / Organizations where BS grads from 2015 -2019 got jobs • • • • Accuweather Risk Management Solutions Direct Energy Veeva Systems Discovery Communications Insight Global Storm. Geo Shipping Surfline Wavetrak Cyberdata Technologies Susquehanna International Group Capital One Versar Environmental Resources Management Southwest Airlines Crius Energy, LLC • • Worldaware Direct Energy NWS (Miami & Newport) Survival Flight • • Graduate school: 42 students TV: 26 students

Graduate School • In the sciences, your tuition is usually paid and you receive a stipend when pursuing an M. S. or Ph. D. • To get into graduate school, you need (at the very least) excellent grades as an undergraduate and a couple good recommendation letters. • At Penn State, a few students per year are accepted into our IUG (Integrated Undergraduate Graduate) Program: B. S. & M. S. in 5 years. • Graduates of Penn State are consistently held in high regard for admittance to grad school at other universities.

Approximately how many Penn State Meteorology alumni are currently doing TV weather somewhere in the United States? a. 85 b. 105 c. 140 d. 180

Television Entry level jobs typically $25 -35 K, • but sky’s the limit at the upper end ! • Entry level positions often require reporting as well as doing weather. Currently 130+ PSU Meteo grads doing commercial TV • Entry level: WTOV (Steubenville, OH), WABI (Bangor, ME), KTTC (Rochester, MN), ABC-27 (South Bend, IN), WJCL (Savannah, GA) • Later … WCAU (Philadelphia), Weather Channel (6), CBS 2 (NYC), KIRO (Seattle), KDFW (Dallas), WHDH (Boston), WTVJ (Miami), KTNV (Las Vegas), WLS (Chicago)

Approximately how many U. S. National Weather Service (NWS) offices are there? a. b. c. d. 25 60 100 125

Government Example of NOAA internship announcement … Pathways program is gateway to fulltime NWS employment

Penn State Meteorology Extra, Extra: Outreach & Organizations College-level: EMEX & Student Council The Pennsylvania State Climatologist is at Penn State ! Campus Weather Service (@PSUWeather is #1 Student-run Meteorology Department Twitter account – 4600+ followers) Clubs: PSUBAMS, Weather Risk Club, PSU Chase Club TV: Weather World, Weather or Not, Centre County Report Penn State Air Quality Forecast Office Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk Accuweather and a NWS office are located in State College STATE COLLEGE IS A GREAT TOWN FOR WEATHER WEENIES !!

Advice for a high school student interested in pursuing a college degree in Atmospheric Science • The more math you take in high school, the better … same for physics and chemistry … programming helps too. • Employers are looking for strength in a second skill – for example, programming, chemistry, or communications – and love students who can write well! • An excellent source of information on careers is the American Meteorological Society (www. ametsoc. org)

Penn State Meteorology and Atmospheric Science www. met. psu. edu @psumeteo Dr. Jon Nese j 2 n@psu. edu @jmnese