Weather Plus Building a career in weather communication

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Weather PlusBuilding a career in weather
communication

• Bob Henson
• UCAR Communications
• bhenson_at_ucar.edu
• ULW 2005
• 20 June 2005

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The best careers don't come off the shelfyou
create them!

• By combining atmospheric science with another
  field, you can

make yourself more marketable
build a more satisfying and fulfilling work
life
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What can you pair with atmospheric science?

• Speech, journalism, radio/TV weathercasting,
  writing
• Law, medicine forensic meteorology
• Sports event-driven forecasting
• Business management, entrepreneurism
• Public policy consulting, think tanks

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How it all started for me . . .

• Oklahoma City, 1968
• I was seven years old
• A weathercaster named Lola Hall said tornadoes
  were on the way.

How did she know??
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Then came writing . . .

• Rolling Stone magazine
• Watergate and the boom in journalism
• High school yearbook and newspaper
• College decisions . . .

Which way to go meteorology or journalism?
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Undergraduate days

• Rice University, 197783
• Area major designed my own (meteorology/
  psychology)
• No journalism school at Rice volunteered for
  yearbook, newspaper
• Took lots of math, computing, fluid dynamics,
  etc.but very little meteorology

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Grad school

• University of Oklahoma, 198388
• Got involved in severe-storm research (at last!)
• Completed coursework for meteorology MS
• Passed comps
• Research not so easy

What next?
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A change of course

• Completed the exercises in What Color is Your
  Parachute? (Richard Bolles). Highly recommended!
  

What I realized
I enjoyed working with words as well as with
scientific concepts. I should do both
meteorology and journalism
Solution a joint masters degree
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The challenges

• Convince both departments (meteorology
  journalism) that this made sense
• Pick one discipline for the formal degree
• Use the other as an informal minor

The result MA in journalism Thesis
examined severe-weather warnings in Oklahoma
CityCommittee included two journalism profs,
one meteorology prof
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Since then . . .

• Joined UCAR's communications group in 1989. Im
  now in my 16th year here (hard to believe!).
• Started freelancing for magazines while in grad
  school. Ive written for Scientific American,
  Sierra, Audubon, and other mags.
• Serve as a contributing editor to Weatherwise
  magazine

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Books

• Television WeathercastingA History (McFarland,
  1990)
• The first book-length study of the field

The Rough Guide to Weather (Penguin, 2002) Half
travel guide, half weather primer
The Rough Guide to Global Warming (Penguin,
2006)coming soon
No writer is an island! These books couldnt
have been done without the support of friends and
input from colleagues within and beyond UCAR.
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What do I do here?
Help translate our research andrelated
activities for a variety of audiences

• Internal Staff Notes Monthly
• University community UCAR Quarterly
• Policymakers, interested public Highlights
  (biennial)
• Media news releases
• Mesa Lab visitors exhibits
• The world at large our public-friendly Web
  site, upgraded in 2004 (see www.ucar.edu)

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A few thoughts on science communication

• What makes science so challenging to communicate
  through the mass media?

Its a never-ending process, not a destination.
For example A few years ago, we thought low-fat
diets were the answer. Then its low-carb diets.
The next iteration who knows?
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A few thoughts on science communication

• Despite the twists and turns, science does go
  forwardwe know more now than we did then
• Scientists can tell us how something works, but
  not what we should do about it (thats up to
  policy makers)
• Science isnt easy! Its full of complicated
  lingo, complex processes, and caveats.

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Some things science writers look for

• Whos paying for this research?
• Has this study been replicated?
• Is there an unaffiliated scientist who can
  comment?
• Is this science or gee whiz technology?

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In short . . .

• Consider devising your own degree to get where
  you want to be. It takes extra time and thought,
  but the results can be well worth it.
• Listen to yourself. Be aware if youre
  discontented, and try to figure out why.
• Volunteer! Its good karma, and it can provide
  you with useful skills while helping others.

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In short . . .

• Join professional organizations as soon as you
  can. Theyre great networking tools and give you
  credentials.
• Hone your people skills. Atmospheric science is
  still a relatively small community.
  Thoughtfulness, diligence, tact, and good humor
  make a difference.
• Enjoy yourself.

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The future is yours
good luck and have fun!