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LSC Meteorology Department Fact Sheet
GENERAL INFORMATION:
LSC METEOROLOGY DEPARTMENT HISTORY:The LSC Meteorology Department traces its beginnings back to a small meteorology program at Belknap College (near Laconia, NH) in the late 1960’s. Just before Belknap closed its doors in the early 1970’s, the head of the meteorology program took the meteorology majors on a bus tour of New England to scout possible sites for relocation of the program. After the trip, the students voted to move the program to Lyndon State College. Rumor has it that many of the students were ski enthusiasts and chose Lyndon because of the nearby Burke Mountain Ski Area! From that small beginning of a few courses and a handful of students, meteorology at LSC has grown to a large, well-known, and well-respected Department of Meteorology. The department now has 4 professors, a computer technician, modern facilities, several courses in all major areas of meteorology, over a hundred current meteorology majors, and over 300 meteorology graduates in jobs and graduate schools around the country. The department exemplifies modernization amidst experience and stability. On the one hand, our facilities are modern and updated regularly. Our staff is involved in a variety of activities at the national level from using Doppler data to investigate meso-scale severe weather phenomenon to creating software packages to better manipulate and display weather elements. Our students use modern educational technology in the classroom to analyze each hour’s weather data to study current weather events. On the other hand, for 26 years the LSC Meteorology Department has enjoyed a fine reputation for graduating quality, applied meteorologists. The current departmental staff has over 58 combined years of college level teaching experience and nearly 20 years of non-academic professional meteorological employment. In addition, our graduates have risen to visible positions in industry, government, and research. (Pleasesee other portions of this web page for further details.)About two-thirds of our graduates have gone on to receive recognition as respected weather forecasters in diverse career fields example, in television at The Weather Channel, WABC, and many local stations; in government at the Cape Canaveral Space Shuttle Launch Center, in the US Air Force, and at many National Weather Service stations; and in private weather consulting at WSI, Fleet Weather, Ocean Routing, Accu Weather, and Weather Risk, Inc. After succeeding at Lyndon State, the other one-third of our graduates have gone onto graduate schools and graduated with advanced degrees from such institutions as Rutgers, Penn. State Univ., Univ. of Wisconsin, Oklahoma State Univ., St. Louis Univ., Colorado State Univ., Texas Tech. Univ., Cornell, MIT, and North Dakota State Univ.
Previous Faculty and Staff
Col. Merle Woodall(Ret.,USAF) brought the department to LSC from Belknap in January 1974. “The Colonel,” who was well liked and admired by students, made theoretical meteorology, the basis of successful weather forecasting, understandable to hundreds of undergraduate meteorology majors. He is now retired, gardening, and living with his wife Elaine near his son and grandchildren in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Prof. Joe D’Aleo(Ph.D., NYU), who was also much beloved by the students, taught synoptic meteorology (weather maps, interpretation, and forecasting). He fostered a close working relationship with the LSC Department of Communications Arts and Sciences (especially with Prof. Cynthia Baldwin in the television section of that department) and developed a weather broadcasting option within the meteorology department. That track has grown very nicely over the years and LSC has developed a solid reputation for graduating professional meteorologists who are also well trained in media presentation techniques. Joe left the department to help found the Weather Channel as its first Director of Meteorology, then later moved on to become Chief Meteorologist, Senior Editor of Intellicast, and “Dr. Dewpoint” at Weather Services International (WSI). Dr. Pat Gannon(Ph.D., FSU), studied hurricanes and surface influences on thunderstorm development, taught synoptic meteorology, and was also a retired USAF officer before coming to Lyndon. Pat is now retired (again!). He enjoyed becoming an amateur carpenter upon leaving LSC and after renovating a family home in Florida, he and his wife Donna now divide their time between summers in Vermont and winters in Florida.
Prof. Barry Richwien(M.S., UW-Madison) put his many years of experience at the National Weather Service (including several years as one of the hosts on "A.M. Weather", the NWS television weather show on PBS aimed at pilots) to good use at LSC. He taught weather data analysis and interpretation, aviation meteorology, and hydrometeorology for several years before leaving LSC to pursue other interests, including using his Certified Consulting Meteorologist credentials. Don Murray(M.S.,MSU) was our first Met Lab Supervisor and built upon the first version of the department computer network that receives, analyzes and displays weather data. He completely remodeled and revitalized the original LSC Met Lab in the Vail Center into a modern facility. He, his wife Diana, and two sons live in the Boulder CO area where he works at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the Unidata Division, continuing to develop new meteorological software packages.
Pete Schmid(B.S.,LSC) continued the developing and refining of the computer systems in the Met Lab that is constantly necessary in order to keep the system updated to the newest capabilities. He designed and built the second version of the LSC Met Lab and moved it to a new and larger location (the former Math Lab in the Vail Center). After leaving LSC he was employed in a similar position in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at SUNY-Albany. Currently he, his wife, and family live in the Albany area where he is a private computer consultant.
MISSION STATEMENT:The Meteorology Department wants its graduates to have an understanding of the atmosphere that enables them to make a positive contribution to their profession and to society. Because students may select from four different career tracks, this contribution could range from creating accurate weather forecasts, to communicating those efforts to clients or the public, to further advancing our understanding of the atmosphere through research endeavors. Regardless of their track, however, students are required to complete a core of study that gives them an essential foundation for understanding weather events.
PROGRAM GOALS:In pursuant of our mission statement, the Meteorology Department has adopted the following program goals:
As a high school student considering Meteorology as a major here at LSC, it is important to prepare yourself academically. Meteorology is a science much like physics or chemistry. Understanding the fundamental processes that create weather and affect climate requires a solid background in math and physics. Accordingly, here at LSC three semesters of Calculus and two semesters of Physics are taken by all Meteorology majors. It is important, therefore, that in high school the prospective Meteorology major take as much math and physics as possible. Taking these courses in high school will help to ensure a successful experience within the Meteorology Department here at LSC.
The following is a listing of the core Meteorology, Math, and Physics courses required for the major and a typical schedule for when they would be taken. All Meteorology students take the core courses. In addition, a student will take courses within the career track(s) they have selected. Students are encouraged to choose one or more of the career tracks by the end of their sophomore year. Courses within the different career tracks are also listed below. CORE COURSES TAKEN BY ALL MAJORSFreshman Year
Sophomore Year
Junior Year
Senior Year
ADDITIONAL COURSES TAKEN FOR EACH OF THE RESPECTIVE CAREER TRACKS
Atkins, Nolan T., Ph.D (Univ. of California, Los Angeles), Associate Professor, Remote Sensing, Met. Instrumentation, Mesoscale Meteorology, Severe Weather Berryman, Bruce F., Ph.D (Univ. of Wisconsin), Professor. Climatology, Environmental Issues, Air Pollution. Fingerhut, William, Ph.D (Colorado State Univ.), Professor. Computer Applications, Tropical Meteorology, Dynamic Meteorology. Shafer, Jason, Ph.D. Meteorology - University of Utah, Assistant Professor. Synoptic Meteorology, TV Weather Broadcasting. Wintels, Werner, Ph.D. - McGill University Austin W. Hogan - Retired from CRREL, CCM. James Roemer - president of WeatherRisks Inc. and BestSkiWeather.com. Fredrick Emigh
The Department has been and is involved with many academic projects and research activities. Recent and current student and faculty research projects include:
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