Spring Semester Update!

Greetings all!

Happy New Year! I hope this blog entry finds you all well rested and maybe even getting ready to come back to Purdue for the next semester. For me, it is always amazing to see how quickly the break goes before Christmas, and then how slowly it goes after that point. Needless to say, I am ready to come back to Purdue. I may not be so ready for classes to start again, but as is the journey of college.

Looking back, PUMA had an innovative fall semester! With a few new events and the implementation of a Forecasting Club, it kept us all plenty busy. I speak for all of us here at PUMA when I say thank you for those that supported our forecasting products this past semester! We are setting our goals high for the future to expand on this idea that we are really still in the process of sculpting.

Our Forecasting Club is a club made up almost entirely of Atmospheric Science majors with the exception of a few non-majors who are attending to help out and learn as well. For majors, we learn all about the science and theory embedded in the atmosphere. From physics, to thermodynamics, to dynamics, we learn so much but often do not get a chance to apply that knowledge. Our purpose for this club is to not only to provide practical forecasting experience to ATMS majors (to apply this awesome knowledge), but also to provide accurate and dependable forecasts to the West Lafayette area (via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube).

We have a busy semester coming up for PUMA with the AMS conference in Atlanta and some new events in the making. The AMS student conference is February 1st-2nd. While the main conference starts on the 2nd and goes until the 6th. Many PUMA members will be attending and it is not too late to sign if you are still interested in going though it may be difficult to find a hotel at this point. In addition, we will have spring callouts that will likely take place towards the end of January. We are in the process of planning 3 new events for this semester! Provided there is enough interest for these events, we will be going to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, attending the Central Indiana Severe Weather Symposium and setting up a Science Movie Night (Sharknado???). Spring Fest is April 12th and 13th this year and we would love to see as many of you there as possible (club members or not).

For now though, that's a wrap! Stay tuned for more updates. I'll try to do more blog updates this semester to keep those of you away from Purdue in the loop.

In weather,

Joseph Bauer
PUMA President

A Summer Update - Presidential Edition

Hey everyone!

My name is Joseph Bauer and I am the new PUMA President for the coming year. It is hard to believe there is only a month left of our summer before the fall semester begins! This summer for me has been very productive and yet enjoyable. In the time remaining before summer ends, I hope to squeeze in a few more trips but I am ready for fall to be here.

NOW DOWN TO BUSINESS! With this entry, I wanted to bring to light some of the changes, goals and events we have coming this year.

First off... WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE! During my sophomore year I worked to try to get our old site updated and needless to say it was a huge pain trying to work with ITaP. So this summer, I worked with some of the College of Science IT staff to get a site that we could freely update and design ourselves. I really think it looks great, but I am biased... The link is above and feel free to make suggestions on what else we could put on the site!

In other news, I have been keeping in touch with Prof. Baldwin about getting a green screen with graphic design software. Once purchased, he plans to locate this plethora of technology in the second half of the weather briefing room. He already has a computer for the job and it is a beast! I cannot remember the full specifications on it, but it has 60GB of ram and a quad ton of processing power. Obviously, these are some expensive toys he is investing in and so it will be a potentially slow process to obtain all of it. He also wants to make sure that people will use it. I think it would be a great idea to do a weekly/daily forecast and upload it on YouTube or our new site. Basically, we need people to weigh in on this so Prof. Baldwin's investment isn't for nothing. Let me (or Prof. Baldwin) know if your interested!

We also have a few events already scheduled!

• The College of Science Meet & Greet on August 16th (2-4pm)
• The Boilermaker Get Involved Fair on August 17th (1-4pm)
• First General Meeting (Call Outs) on August 28th (7pm-whenever)

If you are back to school early, then feel free to come and hang out at either of the two early events. It would be nice to see some PUMA members there and to hear about your summer experiences. I will post Facebook events for these soon.

Lastly, I want to list our top goal for the year. I really want to see PUMA get some recognition at the AMS conference. Our previous officers have put us on a good track and the club has done really well the last couple of years and I think we deserve some acknowledgement. With that said, my goal for the club is to win Chapter of the Year at the AMS conference. This is a big goal, but I think we can do it. Take a look at the criteria for chapter awards here. I want to hear some fresh ideas come Call Outs and lets try to step outside the box this coming year.

Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone!

Rock the Vote for PUMA Elections!

This Wednesday at 7pm, PUMA will be having its annual election for officer position. We encourage all members to participate in the election. Here is the basic rundown for the elections based off our 2012 by-laws

• Anyone who wishes to run for an officer position MUST be in good standing with the organization
• Basically, you have paid your dues
• Officers must be a member of the AMS and NWA
• Fees can be paid after the election ($20 each)
• Officer positions officially begin June 1st
• Unofficially begin immediately after the election
• Any member who has paid their dues can vote and nominate candidates
• Any member who has not paid their dues can still come to the election, but they are not allowed to participate in the nomination and voting process
• In order to run for an officer position, you must be nominated by another member in attendance
• Both you and your nominator have to be physically present
• No absentee voting, nominations, or candidacy allowed
• To win the officer position, you must receive a simple majority of the votes
• 50% + 1 vote
• In the event where no one received a majority of the votes, a run off election will immediately follow between the top 2 candidates from the previous election
• Order of the election
1. President
2. Vice-President
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer

Here are the basic officer duties. Please note that your duties are not limited to what is described in the by-laws, and that often officers work together to help PUMA succeed.

• President
• Reports directly to the AMS and NWA
• Preside at all the meetings
• Coordinate and plan group activities
• Obtain appropriate facilities
• Maintain contact with adviser, department faculty and staff, members, and officers
• Chair the Executive Committee
• Vice-President
• Assume the duties of the President when necessary
• Directly assist the President
• About 90% of the job, but it also depends on the President
•  Chair the Program Committee
• Secretary
• Assume duties of Vice-President when needed
• Directly assist the Vice-President
• Keep records and minutes of officer and general meetings
• Maintain and update online accounts
• Facebook, Twitter, Blog, G-Mail
• Contact potential guest speakers
• Chair the Publicity and Outreach Committee
• Treasurer
• Maintain financial records
• Prepare budgest
• Prepare reimbursement for club payments
• Purdue policy: treasurers are not allowed to reimburse themselves
• Prepare budget reports monthly, or when requested
• Seek grants and financial support
• Organize fundraisers
• Chair Finance and Membership Committee
• Assume the duties of the Secretary when needed

If you are a PUMA member, please do consider running for an officer position. All the officers can testify that it is a great experience, it looks great on a resume, and you have fun at the same time! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of the PUMA officers.

PUMA at AMS 2013

Greetings!

Three of our officers (Kayla, Juan, and Bryce), our adviser (Dr. Lasher-Trapp), as well as various members are in Austin, Texas (or preparing to travel to Austin) for the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society. This is a great opportunity for many of our members to present their research throughout the year, as well as network with professionals in the field and college students at other universities.

This year, PUMA members will be presenting various projects at the 12th Annual Student Conference tonight:

Sophomores: 2 from EAS 226

Juniors: 1 from Synoptic 1/Thermodynamics, Analyzing the vertical structure of the Atmosphere during the 2012 Drought.

Seniors: 2 from the Senior Project in Weather Observations and Measurements (Front Analysis and Urban Heat Island) as well as the Sea Breeze Research Trip from spring break in 2012.

On top of these poster presentations, our Secretary, Bryce O'Neill, will be giving an oral presentation on Tuesday afternoon discussing the Chicago Heat Wave in 2012.

Along with this, PUMA is also presenting a chapter poster for the first time in years! Check it out below:

Make sure to check out the PUMA poster throughout the week if you get the chance! PUMA and Purdue are well represented this year at AMS. Purdue has sent plenty of students in the past, but this year PUMA is making a lasting impression on the conference, which hasn't been present in recent years. We hope that our future officers will continue to make PUMA a regular presence at AMS and NWA conferences.

We'll see you in Austin!

Thanksgiving/November PUMA Update

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

November has been a quiet month for PUMA after hosting 3 events last month in October. The visit from Southwest Airlines and their NoLimits recruiter was a success! They were impressed with what PUMA had to offer and have offered to return next year! Hopefully we can make it a much bigger event, invite the whole campus (obviously in a bigger room), and use it as a great way to advertise for PUMA!

Our 2nd Annual Graduate School panel, co-hosted with PUGS, was well attended by members in both organizations. We thank our panelists for taking time out of their busy schedules to answer the questions of those in attendance who hope to attend graduate school themselves.

A PUMA tradition continued on Halloween with the annual PUMA Pumpkin Carving social. After business items were discussed at the beginning of the meeting, our members had the chance to take a break from their studies and carve pumpkins to celebrate the holiday. Who knew that a couple science students could be so creative?

Up next for PUMA is our annual Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. It will be on the last day of classes, Friday, December 7th at 6pm in HAMP/CIVL 4251. There will be plenty of treats and even a gift exchange! Ugly sweaters are encouraged.

PUMA: The Beta Kappa chapter of the NWA

From Vice President: Juan Crespo
This past January down in New Orleans, I had missed my shuttle from my hotel to the airport after spending a week at the AMS Conference. Luckily, I happened to run into Tim Oram in the lobby of my hotel. At the time, Mr. Oram was the Emergency Response Meteorologist at the Southern Region Headquarters of the National Weather Service. Mr. Oram offered to drive me up to the NOLA Airport so I could catch my flight on time. During that drive, we discussed topics covered at AMS, my studies, as well as the National Weather Association (NWA).

Mr. Oram told me how the NWA was great for those who were interested in the field of operational meteorology, and told me that just like the AMS, there are local chapters within the NWA. As soon as he told me this, I knew this would be a great opportunity for PUMA. Being an NWA Chapter would allow PUMA to also focus on the operational side of meteorology as well as the research that is often focused on in our major. As soon as I returned to Purdue, I signed up to be an NWA member and began looking up how this could be done

My goal was to get our local chapter status by the end of the school year, but with how busy the officers were, and the fact that one of them was studying abroad in England, we decided to push it back for the next administration to handle. When I became Vice-President of PUMA for this school year, I immediately told Kayla, our President, that I wanted to get this task done. She trusted me and allowed me to write up our petition while I asked the other 3 officers to become NWA members so we could file for chapter status.

After getting the petition signed over the summer, we received word from the National Weather Association before the school year started that all we had to do was give them our by-laws with revisions that also focused on the NWA. There was only one problem: the current PUMA by-laws haven't even been touched since the early 90s and were extremely outdated! This meant we had to start from scratch; just like with the petition, I volunteered to write up the new by-laws so we could complete this process.

After writing and revising the by-laws for what seemed like days, we finally finished and approved the by-laws to be reviewed by the NWA. After about a month of waiting due to the NWA Annual Meeting, on Tuesday, October 23rd, PUMA was officially approved as the Beta Kappa chapter of the National Weather Association! It certainly was a long process that started 10 months ago, but the journey was worth it.

As a dual AMS and NWA Local Chapter, PUMA will be able to serve our members better. Our members will now have to opportunity to network and reach out more with the operational field of meteorology, but also be able to expand their horizons with both organizations. We hope that PUMA will continue to flourish in the near future as it begins to work with the NWA while keeping a strong connection with the AMS.

Upcoming Events

There are several PUMA events on the calendar for the next month.  Below you will find information about all of them:

Southwest Airlines Visit - 10/18/12 5:45 & 6:30pm HAMP 4251
Some recruiters from Southwest will be coming to talk to us about working for them. This is obviously a great opportunity for anyone looking for a summer internship or full time employment. Even if you have no interest in Southwest, this will be a good opportunity to learn about jobs in the private sector, and to practice talking to recruiters.
There will be two separate 45 minute sessions starting at 5:45 and 6:30 pm.

EAPS Graduate School Panel - 10/24/12 6:30pm HAMP 3201
 Come listen to grad students, professors, and even the head of our department as they talk about graduate school. This is a golden opportunity to learn from those who have gone before us. Whatever you current stance on grad school, this will be a great way to get your questions answered and help you make an informed decision about your future.

 Pumpkin Carving - 10/31/12 6:00pm HAMP 4251
We will be carving pumpkins and probably eating some sort of Halloween-inspired goodies. In addition, President Hudson will be giving a brief talk about her experiences at NCAR this summer. You don't want to miss this event! It will be a great start to your Halloween festivities!

Note: Only members who have paid their dues will be able to carve pumpkins. We need a firm head count for this event so we know how many pumpkins to buy. Please try to let us know for sure one way or the other.

*NWS Roadshow - 11/13/12 4:30pm HAMP 2201
This is one of the most important events of the year! Several VIPs from the nearby NWS offices will be coming here to Purdue to talk to us about not only the NWS, but the field in general. Even if you have no interest in the NWS this is still a valuable event to attend. It will provide you with a wealth of information and great practice talking to a potential employer. Plus, we will have a networking dinner afterward (place TBD) which is usually paid for by the department! Dress is typically business casual.

We hope to see as many members as possible!


*Update (10/24/2012): Due to limited budgets within NOAA and the NWS, the Roadshow has been postponed until February. Please stay tuned for any updates later on.

PUMA/PUGS Ice Cream Social today at 2pm!

Don't forget that PUMA and PUGS will be hosting their first ever Ice Cream social today at 2pm until 3:30pm with the faculty and staff of the EAPS Department! Take a break between classes to enjoy ice creams and socialize with others from the department! We'll see you at 2pm.

Summer Blog Series - Secretary: Bryce O'Neill

Hi, all.  First, some quick facts about me:

• Senior in Atmospheric Science
• From Plainfield, IN (by way of Las Vegas, NV,  by way of Alamogordo, NM)
• Love to play sports, especially disc golf

Now for my summer.  I had a few weeks of R&R before I shipped off to Champaign, Illinois and the University of Illinois for an internship at the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.  I was very fortunate to receive this internship; I had applied to several but none of them gave me a paid offer.  This was the last one I heard from, and fortunately for me they offered me a position.  While here in Champaign (I am still here through the 17^th), I have been exposed to the wide world of desk jobs.  I have held several jobs since I was 16, and none of them involved sitting on a computer.  I think the biggest adjustment was finding a way to stay active when my job is so sedentary.  There are some nice benefits of working on a computer, though (streaming Olympics coverage, anyone?).

My responsibilities here have been twofold.  I have spent much of my time working on two research projects.  One of those projects involves old weather records which date back to the 1830’s or further.  This project is possible thanks to the Climate Data Modernization Program (CDMP), an initiative from the NCDC wherein all written and microfilm weather records from the old days got converted into digital form.  This was a tedious and time consuming project, but now people like me can finally use and analyze that data.  I spent much of the first half of my time on this project learning Perl and trying to interpret and write programs in that language.  My other project is a study of recent heat waves in Chicago, and comparing them to those of 1995 and 1999.  I have submitted the abstract for this project to the AMS with hopes that I can present my work at the conference in Austin, TX this year. 
The other side of my job was working in the service office.  In the service office, I answered questions via phone call and email and filled data orders from companies and other agencies.  With the severe drought gripping this part of the country, we have been plenty busy answering questions, especially from media.  We have had calls from CNN, the New York Times, and even international news agencies from countries like Denmark and Korea.

I will miss Champaign once the summer comes to a close, but it will be good to be back at Purdue to wrap up my undergraduate career.  If you want to learn more about the MRCC, I encourage you to visit their website (Google it), like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter!

Summer blog series-- President: Kayla Hudson

For the rest of the summer, the PUMA officer team is going to take turns blogging about their summer experiences.  First up is Kayla:

Hello everyone!! It’s hard to believe in one month we will be sitting in class taking notes and pulling long nights in the fourth floor of civil.  Summer is flying by very fast! As many of you know, I am a senior from Patoka, Indiana which is located in the southwestern corner of the state.  I grew up on my family’s farm.  I guess that is part of the reason why I have always had an interest in the weather, because it plays a huge role for my family.  I have a younger sister who is a freshman at Purdue.  I am also engaged to a Purdue alumnus, and we will be married in May.  Hopefully, by that time, I will either a have a job lined up, or better yet, a graduate school.  This summer, I have an internship with the Indiana State Climate Office.  We have been super busy lately answering questions in regards to the current drought situation.

About a month ago I was able to visit Boulder, Colorado through NCAR’s Undergraduate Leadership Workshop.  There were 20 students selected from various universities across the United States and Canada. The purpose of the workshop is to help develop leadership skills and prepare for graduate school.  Throughout the week I visited NCAR, UCAR, NOAA: NWS and Space Weather, and various other academic facilities which were very impressive!  I was able to meet both the president and director of NCAR and faculty from prestigious universities such as Oklahoma.  We were able to hear how they achieved the position they are currently working.  Since everyone attending the conference had an interest in graduate school, we had a panel of graduate students talk to us about what to expect, and then opened up the floor for questions.  It was very beneficial! We were actually able to see the wildfires from our dorm room windows.  We took one afternoon away from academics and went up in the Rocky Mountains.  The view is incredible!  If you ever have the chance to go take it! It is something you will never forget!  However, be sure to drink plenty of water ahead of time to help your body adjust to the extreme change in height.  I have posted pictures on Facebook, so feel free to look through them.

I hope everyone is having an awesome summer, and I can’t wait to see everyone in the fall!

Boilermakers Leading the Way

Source: The Weather Channel

Earlier this week, Dr. Rick Knabb of the Weather Channel was named the new director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center. For those who don't know, Dr. Knabb began his career in meteorology right here at Purdue University, where he earned his Bachelors Degree in Atmospheric Science. Afterwards, he went on to receive his Masters and Ph.D. from Florida State University.

During his undergraduate career at Purdue, he performed research with Dr. Phillip Smith, and his honors thesis focused on the relationship of isobarically-calculated potential vorticity (PV) and absolute vorticity (AV) to an explosively-deepening extratropical cyclone. His thesis was awarded first place in the American Meteorological Society's MacElwane Award competition, and presented it with Dr. Smith at the First International Winter Storm Symposium (Source: EAS Undergraduate Research).

Join us in congratulating our fellow Boilermaker in his new achievement! His career and leadership shows what it means to be a Boilermaker, and he serves as a great example for all us pursuing our Atmospheric Science degree.

Reflections from the outgoing 2011-2012 PUMA Officers

President: Layc Brock
It has been an honor being the President of PUMA for the 2011-2012 school year!  I want to thank my fellow officers for all the help, patience, and effort they put into the club.  I also want to thank all the members (new and old) who contributed to the success of our growing club.  I feel that we get stronger each year and wish next years officers all the best.  Transitioning from "EAS" to the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences is an exciting move for next year.  Since my research is in Planetary Sciences, I hope that PUMA can incorporate this into the mix!  There are exciting opportunities at Purdue for atmospheric science majors (especially with the future addition of new faculty members that specialize in planetary atmospheres).  I will, of course, be here to help for my senior year and am excited to watch PUMA continue on and reach even more success.

Reflecting on my personal experiences, I reached my highest accomplishments this year!  As I previously mentioned, I work with the Planetary Science research group here at Purdue under Dr. Jay Melosh.  I began my project this past August looking at impact ejecta exchange in the exosystem Gliese 581.  This research allowed me to present a poster at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas in March.  Not only was it my first time flying alone, but it was my first time attending a conference!  This experience gave me a whole new perspective on succeeding in college and continuing on to graduate school.  My research got a lot of media attention which was not only exciting but a bit overwhelming!  As an added bonus, I got to meet Bill Nye the Science Guy!  I recommend everyone attend at least one conference at some point in their college careers.  I'm excited to continue on with my research and write an article for (hopefully) publication this summer.  It just goes to show you anything is possible if you are determined and work hard!  Good luck to everyone and please never hesitate to contact me if you need anything :)

Vice-President: Alyssa Hendricks
Looking back, I can't decide if this year has gone by ridiculously fast like I once thought, the beginning of the year actually seems so long ago! I have been more than impressed with PUMA this year. Fall semester was definitely the most successful semester I had ever seen, thanks to not only dedicated officers but active general members as well. We can plan and plan events all the time, but they're nothing if we don't have members attend and take interest in what PUMA does.

Missing second semester has been bittersweet. Although I would have loved to be at Purdue with my classmates, being abroad has been by far the greatest adventure of my life. I have learned and experienced more than I ever thought imaginable while in England and am sad that my time here is coming to an end. Studying abroad was something I had planned on doing for a good majority of my life and finally being able to go has been a dream come true. With that, I am excited to return to Purdue for senior year. I look forward to seeing how PUMA continues to grow next year and wish the incoming officers the best of luck!

Secretary: Juan Crespo
This has been quite the year for me, especially within the EAS Department. Going from just a member to an officer was quite the jump and taught me many lessons, but I would do it again in a heartbeat! (Hence why I will be Vice President next year!). The two big things for me this year would have to be the NWS Road Show in November and going to my first AMS Conference in January down in New Orleans. I attended the Road Show both Freshman and Sophomore years, but actually planning it was quite interesting. Having to contact the speakers a full month in advance, scheduling the room, vehicles and making dinner reservations, I never realized how much planning went into it. Though there was some criticism leading up to the Road Show this year, it ended up being a success and larger than the previous road shows I had been on. Then going to AMS in January not only gave me the chance to fly for the first time in almost five years and the first time as an atmospheric science major (allowing me to go crazy with my camera), it also gave me the chance to interact with so many other students and professionals in our field, as well as present my research from the University of Michigan. It was a great year, and I am excited to repeat it again next year!


Treasurer: Kristen Fischer
I will be graduating this May, and this year has brought big changes for me.  This year was my first time at the AMS Conference, and I wish I had not waited until my senior year to go.  Also, the classes really focused on what I want to do as a career, which made the real world seem so much closer.  But, by far the largest thing that I did this year was to begin looking for a real job.  Job searching is very difficult.  It is hard to find the job that is the right fit.


I guess the biggest "Reflection" I can give, is what I had wish I had known before I started looking for a job.  First and foremost, I wish I had given up my summer job, and done more than one internship a summer.  Internships are how you get your foot in the door in the type to job you want.  Also personally get to know each of the people you work with.  People who truly know you are much more likely to help you out in the future.  And stay in contact with the people you worked with at your internship.  Graduation is scary,  but its exciting too.  And I hope a job offer is in my future.

The PUMA Blog reaches 1,000 viewers!

Secretary/Vice President-Elect: Juan Crespo

Three months ago this past Wednesday, I was sitting in my hotel room in New Orleans reflecting on the lessons I had learned during the AMS Conference since Saturday. Some of it included the talks I went to, but most of my thinking was focused on how could we improve PUMA. Of the 20 student chapters represented at the conference, almost 75% of them presented a poster about their group. Meanwhile, Purdue rested in their shadows for yet another year, not even proclaiming the great accomplishments PUMA has had recently. We needed a way to show the rest of the meteorological community how great PUMA really was.

Then it occurred to me, why not create a blog?! We were going no where by attempting to address our aging website, and other student chapters were having success with their blogs. I quickly created a Blogger account for PUMA under my name and made our first post in just over an hour, making me arrive late to the AMS Banquet that night. I had my doubts about the blog, it could just be redundant with the Facebook and Twitter accounts for PUMA, no one would want to take the time to read it, etc. But soon enough, the benefits of the blog paid off. From having the ability to post minutes from our meetings, to Alyssa updating us on her study abroad trip this semester in Europe, to my post the night before the deadly Southern Indiana/Kentucky tornadoes, the PUMA blog was a success. But we aren't done yet.

PUMA is continuing to grow like a parcel rising dry adiabatically in the atmosphere, and the PUMA blog will be right there to share with our viewers its progress. Here's to the next 1,000 views and a bright future for PUMA.

Storm Spotter Training tonight!

Always wondered what you need to look out for in the sky to tell if a severe storm is probable? Then come on out to our annual Storm Spotter Training tonight at 6pm in CIVL 3201. We will have 2 graduate students, well trained in Severe Weather, give us the details on how to detect severe weather so we can become certified storm spotters ourselves!

Just like any of our events, you don't have to be an Atmospheric Science major to join, all are welcomed! Knowing the signs of severe weather and being able to accurately relay that information to the proper authorities is one way we can help keep our communities safe from dangerous weather.

See you tonight, 6pm in CIVL 3201! https://www.facebook.com/events/274168882669610/

Need to contact us?

We are making some changes to PUMA as we transition administrations. The main changes are on the technological side of things. We have gone ahead and created our own email address so you can contact all the PUMA officers if you need to. Our new email address is:

purdue.weather@gmail.com

You really can't forget any of our account names now since they all contain "Purdue Weather" in some way (Twitter: Purdue_Weather, Blog: purdue-weather, Gmail: purdue.weather). This will make PUMA more centralized in communication with those outside the association, instead of spreading the communication amongst the officers.

Next step in advancing PUMA technology? Updating our actual website that hasn't been touched since last decade...

Blencathra Field Course

Alyssa Hendricks

Hello Everyone! Hope you're all enjoying spring at Purdue.  I'm currently on my Easter Holiday at Leeds, or a fancy way of saying I get a month long spring break! The first week of which I had the opportunity to spend at Blencathra in the Lake District of England on a field course with second year and masters level students in the School of Earth and Environment.

The Lake District is easily the most gorgeous place in the UK, it's a giant national park and has the closest things England can claim as mountains. We climbed to the summit of one of these, taking measurements the way up and down to get a look at how the atmosphere changed with height.  At the actual field site, we set up various equipment to measure temperature, moisture, wind speed, and radiation on different masts throughout the site and studied changes over the week.  Nightly forecasts were also done and students competed against each other to have the most accurate forecasts - which was slightly nerve racking for an area I've never studied before. By the end of the week I had compiled an entire notebook of data and observations as well as analysis of the radiation budget and atmospheric dynamics for the time we were there.

For any students considering a study abroad program in Leeds, I would definitely recommend going on this field course. It was the perfect opportunity to study in an area outside of Leeds, see a new part of England, and get to know the other meteorology students and professors. I also got 10 credits of my required 60 completed in a matter of days with no final exam or project!

The remainder of my Easter Holiday has been spent traveling. So far to London, Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin and soon Berlin. How much more convincing do you need to consider a study abroad now?

 

Your 2012-2013 PUMA Officers!

President: Kayla Hudson
Junior from Patoka, Indiana

Vice President: Juan Crespo
Junior from South Bend, Indiana

Secretary: Bryce O'Neill
Junior from Plainfield, Indiana

Treasurer: Austin Pearson
 Junior from Kokomo, Indiana

2012-2013 Officer Elections

Interested in being an officer for the 2012-2013 school year?  Here is your chance!

PUMA will be holding elections for officer positions in the next few weeks.  (Time/Date TBA.  We expect it to be either Thursday, March 29th or Thursday, April 5th at the normal meeting time)

We will have elections for all positions-- President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer

You must be nominated by at least one person to run for a position.  Don't worry, nudge someone and have them nominate you.  We care more about the job you do, it's not a popularity contest!

Please don't run for office if you just want to "boost your resume."  PUMA is a small organization with room to continue growing, and we want dedicated and passionate people leading the way!

Here are some FAQ's to think about when deciding if you want to run:

Do I have enough time to be an officer?
-Being an officer for PUMA does require a reasonable amount of time.  Plan to have at least one event a month.  If you are an officer you can't just "show up" for the meetings.  Careful planning and behind the scene work is required to have an event!  Depending on the position, you may be posting things on Facebook, Twitter, sending emails, making flyers, etc.  Don't overwhelm yourself by taking on too much.

Who can run for an officer position?
-Anyone currently in PUMA or in the EAS department can run for a position, however, we ask only students who will be juniors or seniors next year to run for President and Vice President.  Freshman and Sophomores may run for Secretary and Treasurer (and are encouraged).  That way, you could essentially hold an officer position until you graduate.

What are the responsibilities for each position?
-Although everyone works as a team, each officer as certain "general" responsibilities:
President:  Planning/booking events, makes final decisions
VP:  Assisting the president with planning/booking
(on top of the previously listed duties, the President and VP usually run errands for supplies, design/order/pick up tshirts, appoint committees, make food, and various other duties)
Secretary: Maintaining the PUMA Twitter, Facebook, networking/contacting
Treasurer:  Keeps track of money, makes budget, collects dues, paperwork, issue refunds

What other things might help me become an officer?
-Things that are not required, but are helpful, include personal transportation and kitchen/cooking space.  Officers typically run errands and provide supplies for PUMA meetings and this is very helpful!

Anymore questions, please contact me!
Good luck!

Thanks,
Laci

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

President: Layc Brock


I just flew into Texas today for the 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.  I assume many of you haven't heard of this conference, because I didn't even know of it myself. Most of the atmospheric science students go to the AMS conference which is normally in January.  There are opportunities for undergraduates at Purdue in planetary science though too, so don't forget that!  I'll let you know a little about planetary science and the conference in general.


So, what is planetary science you might ask?  Well, it is basically a combination of EVERYTHING.  There is really something for every branch of science:  chemistry, physics, geology, biology, and of course atmospheric science!  This field is really up and coming and there are so many opportunities.  It's great because there are still a bunch of unanswered research questions.  For atmospheric science majors, you can study the weather on other planets, jovian planets, and soon (hopefully) we will have the technology using spectroscopy to examine the atmospheric composition of exoplanets.


Anyway, I'm attending this conference to present my research that I do with Jay Melosh, a distinguished professor here at Purdue.  I'll be presenting my poster Sunday, March 18th at the undergraduate portion of the conference and then again on Tuesday night at the main conference.  Not only will I get to network with other students and scientists, I get to attend several panels and talks.  On Monday, I have a "mentor" for the day who will take me around the conference.  Her name is Amy Simon-Miller and she is the Associate Director for Strategic Science at NASA Goddard.  Her research focuses on Jovian atmospheres (think Jupiter and the Great Red Spot!).  On top of all of that, my abstract is one of the featured abstracts for the whole conference which is exciting/scary/crazy.  I'll let everyone know how it goes!


If you are someone who is still trying to decide what to do, you might want to check out planetary science!  There are research opportunities for you to do at Purdue which will really help you out in the long run.  You won't know if research is right or wrong for you until you give it a try.  


More informations and pictures to come!
Look under "highlighted abstracts" 


Layc

Why I am NOT excited about severe weather tomorrow

Secretary: Juan Crespo

I have seen many posts about some of my friends getting excited about the chance for storms tomorrow, and I don't blame them. As at atmospheric science major, it is exciting to see Mother Nature put on such a show for us. And even though I will be on a retreat this weekend and won't be able to even follow these storms, I was starting to get excited myself too, then I took the SPC Outlook and overlaid it with a population map:

In the purple shaded area, I can easily see 3-4 major cities, like Cincinnati and Louisville, even on the edge of that area I see larger cities, like Columbus and Indianapolis. Other major cities like Northern Atlanta and Southern Cleveland have a good chance of experiencing bad weather, which could lead to tornadoes like those seen in Harrisburg, IL just a few days ago.

Personally, I can't get excited about severe weather when I see such large populations at risk. Ever since last year, with the Alabama and Joplin tornadoes, to even the Indiana State Fair accident and the Harrisburg tornado, severe weather worries me and its affect on local populations. When more people die in 1 year from tornadoes than the amount of deaths combined the couple years before, it just sickens me the risk our population is at, and it sickens me more that even with the advances in meteorology, people still do not heed warnings and end up dying because of it.

Now, this doesn't mean I condemn storm chasing, we need storm spotters on the ground to help track the storm and observe properties that we may not be able to observe with modern day technology. Many of us get excited about the possibility of storm chasing, and I don't blame you or hold anything against you. It's just personally, I can no longer get excited when so many people are at risk at losing their lives.