From, “I’ll never work for the NWS!”...to becoming a SOO

Much to the chagrin of my family and friends, I’ve never considered myself a “weather nerd.” I shamelessly look at my phone for the current weather forecast, and I can’t recall any specific weather event that sent me on a trajectory toward becoming who I am today. When I walked out of working a midnight shift during my volunteership with the Omaha Weather Forecast Office (WFO-OAX) circa 2005, I declared right then and there that I would never work for the National Weather Service (NWS).

And yet, here I find myself almost 20 years later, a SOO (Science and Operations Officer) with the NWS. How did that happen?!

After I swore off the weather service at the ripe old age of 22, I set off on a career centered on academia and research. After getting married and having a couple kids, I felt I needed a change. I no longer had the passion and drive to write code and fight for research funds every 3 years. When a job came across my Indeed search that bridged my current experience (cloud microphysics) with something new (research to operations) I thought, why not?!

That job introduced me to an entirely different side of the NWS I never knew existed. I got instantly wrapped up into everything a Testbed entails, and developed a true passion for research to operations on a timescale much shorter than I was accustomed to. I started as a contractor and eventually worked my way up to where I am today, without ever working as a full time forecaster or within a WFO. I like to say that I took the “backdoor” way into the weather service, and I’ve gained so much because of it. My experience is definitely unique, and I’ve learned a lot along the way.

This presentation will cover my unconventional path toward becoming a SOO in the NWS, and what I’ve learned along the way.