For my SGC Practicum project, I worked with the Weather Prediction Center (a branch of The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), which is headquartered at the National Center for Environmental Prediction in College Park Maryland. The WPC is in charge of issuing medium range forecasts, the Surface Analysis product, the medium range hazards outlook, and more. They also collaborate with other branches of NOAA in order to ensure the quality in NOAA forecasts.
In the spring of my Freshman year, I was eager to find a way to get my foot in the door with NOAA, a place I aspire to work at once I complete my education in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science. To reach this goal, I began to ask professors and other AOSC faculty about how I can get connected with NOAA. All of them pointed to Dr. Louis Uccellini, who was the head of the National Weather Service (a branch of NOAA) and is currently AOSC faculty. Then I sent him an email where I introduced myself and explained my intentions. He then replied and set me up with staff at the Ocean Prediction Center and the Weather Prediction Center to visit their facility and participate in a job shadow with one of their forecasters. During the shadowing experience, I made sure to ask as many questions as I could. In fact, one question led to me being offered an internship opportunity at the WPC in the fall of 2024.
After I participated in this wonderful experience at the WPC, I recommend that scholars searching for a practicum site should reach out to faculty/professors in their major's department or anyone they know and ask them if they know of any opportunities they would be interested in. I would also recommend that they attend networking events and be open to talking to new people to expand their professional network. Additionally, scholars interested in practicum project involving meteorology should reach out to people at the WPC and ask to shadow as well as join the American Meteorological Society club on campus. The AMS club has speakers come in twice a month to talk about their experiences in the field as well as opportunities available to students at their work place.
During my practicum project, I verified that accuracy of the WPC's Day 3-7 Hazards Outlook for Extreme Heat from 2019 to 2024. Most of the work involved using python to analyze data about the product stored in csv files. I was able to create bulk statistics and verify specific heat events. In addition to coding, I also met with my mentors at the WPC twice a week for roughly an hour to go over progress and address any questions I had. At the end of the project, my findings were used to find ways to improve the accuracy of the Day 3-7 Hazards Outlook for Extreme Heat, however, more work is needed to get sufficient results to do so.
Having worked with the WPC, I believe that I wish to pursue a career with them or any NOAA agency. I enjoyed using python to analyze data as well as working with WPC products, so I believe that this is where I should steer my career aims. This is a bit of a departure from my previous plan to be a weather researcher or work in academics, but I will certainly keep my options open. This in mind, I decided to pick up a minor is Geographic Information Systems, which many of the forecasters at the WPC recommended I pursue. Fortunately, three of the six classes I need to take for the minor also count towards my major, so this will work out perfectly. In addition to picking up a minor, I also plan on applying for the La Penta scholarship, continuing to work with NOAA, participate in research opportunities within the AOSC department, and maintaining my position as the Secretary of the American Meteorological Society chapter on campus.
Looking back on this experience, I have learned quite a bit about the science of meteorology. I learned how meteorologists at the WPC make their forecasts and the tools they use to do so. I learned how NOAA works operationally, particularly how the subordinate agencies collaborate with one another to issue accurate forecasts/products. Also, I have learned how one can use python to analyze weather related data as well as how that data is gathered and stored. Outside of meteorological lessons, I have also learned valuable professional skills. I have also developed a better understanding of the importance in creating accurate forecasts to ensure that public's safety and preparedness before and during extreme weather events. All of this in mind, I have come to understand that the science of meteorology is ever changing and there's always room to improve product accuracy. As such, it is the responsibility of meteorologists to find ways implement said changes to improve said accuracy. As with any work in science, this certainly cannot be done with out difficulty and collaboration amongst other meteorologists is needed in order to ensure that this is done correctly and efficiently.