Space Weather Certification Program

This year marks the 16^th Conference on Space Weather, a reminder of how far the field has come but also raises the question of why space weather still has not found its way into mainstream academic curricula in meteorology. As a result of former AMS President Matt Parker and his outspoken support for space weather, an ad-hoc committee was formed to explore the potential for creating a Certification in Space Weather. Our reliance on technology continues to advance and the effects of space weather are far-reaching, including but not limited to radio communication disruptions, elevated radiation dose to airline passengers and high flyers as well as ubiquitous GPS errors on our smartphones. It is a critical time, as we shift out of Solar Minimum and prepare for Solar Maximum, that we can successfully engage, educate and communicate space weather to the end customers as well as the public. Creating a Space Weather certification program geared towards the broadcast meteorologist/station scientist community, would allow us to equip those who are on the forefront of educating the public and end customers, to effectively deliver space weather forecasts and information. This talk will highlight how this will be accomplished, why it is critical, who is the target audience, and the current status of our efforts to create a broadly accessible, fully online, credit-bearing certificate program in space weather.