As the 38th U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker is a key member of President Obama’s economic team, with 27 years of private sector experience. Before joining the Obama Administration, Pritzker founded and ran five different businesses in the real estate, hospitality, senior living, and financial services industries. Since taking office in June 2013, she has worked closely with the business community and helped advance the President’s priorities of expanding growth and opportunity for all Americans. Guided by conversations with more than 1,600 CEOs and business leaders, and over one-third of the Fortune 500 CEOs, Secretary Pritzker has developed the “Open for Business Agenda.” This bold strategic plan and policy blueprint for the Commerce Department focuses on expanding trade and investment, unleashing government data for economic benefit, spurring innovation, protecting the environment—and executing these priorities with operational excellence as careful stewards of taxpayer dollars. In a keynote address to the AMS Washington Forum, Secretary Pritzker announced that NOAA is forming new alliances to help bring its vast data resources to the public. Partnerships such as those with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, IBM, Google, and the Open Cloud Consortium help address the growing need for access to NOAA’s huge—and rapidly growing—environmental data resource. Secretary Pritzker earned her bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University and J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Stanford University. The informal discussion with Secretary Pritzker in this Presidential Town Hall will be moderated by NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan. For additional information, please contact Marni Goldberg mgoldberg@doc.gov.

“Weather Ready Nation” has become the guiding set of principles for evolving the U.S. National Weather Service. Other countries are developing—or have developed—similar visions for the future, which emphasize ‘impact based decision support’ and responsiveness to subsets of users. The U.S. Government, in conjunction with WMO and other countries, have begun the establishment of “Weather Ready Nations”, an initiative to expand internationally the appropriate use of lessons learned thus far. Current plans are to hold two workshops in order to draft a list of “Best Practices” and to design three demonstration projects. These projects would explore application of selected practices in developing countries—examples might include use of WRN “ambassadors”, developing a weather ready plan or ‘roadmap’, and application of social and economic benefits analysis to assist in better defining user community needs. Please join us at this Town Hall meeting for further discussion of this initiative. For additional information, please contact Viviane Silva viviane.silva@noaa.gov.

The job market has become highly demanding in the weather and climate enterprise. It is essential for applicants to have a broad range of expertise in order to stand out in a sea of job applications. This is especially true for early career professionals, who are entering their second or subsequent job. Learning does not end at the academic level, and it is important to have the ability to adapt to new proficiencies in order to stay competitive when moving to the next career step. The AMS Board for Early Career Professionals, Board for Operational Government Meteorologists, Board for Private Sector Meteorologists, Board on Higher Education, and the Weather Analysis and Forecast Committee invite you to participate in a panel discussion regarding skillsets that aren’t necessarily required in an academic curriculum, but may be of importance to have in a resume or curriculum vitae. Experts in each skillset will be on hand to discuss its importance in weather and climate, how it applies to their particular field of work, and where early career professionals can find opportunities for training. Talks will be given by each panelist, along with a Q&A session at the end. All members of the AMS community, including graduate students, post docs, and early career professionals are encouraged to attend this one hour town hall meeting. For additional information, please contact Jared Rennie jared@cicsnc.org.

The mission of NWS weather and seasonal prediction models is to provide the best possible numerical guidance to customers, where forecasts must be available reliably and on time. To address growing service demands and improve the accuracy of forecasts, NWS also needs to remain at the cutting-edge of research and continuously transition science advances from the research community into operations. This town hall meeting is for NWS to communicate with its partners and stakeholders on NWS model development and transition processes at the NCEP Environmental Modeling Center with the goal of fostering more effective research-to-operations transition to improve NWS models. For additional information, please contact Michael Ek michael.ek@noaa.gov or Hendrik Tolman hendrik.tolman@noaa.gov.

There is a tight correlation between weather and energy consumption but the relationship between meteorology and the electricity grid runs much deeper. The industry has undergone many changes and our nation’s grid is increasingly more complex. From the integration of large scale wind and solar generation and the complexities introduced from their intermittent behavior, to the disruptive forces of distributed solar generation and it’s ever increasing footprint. These increasing challenges with their increasing levels of complexity are being met head on by increased computational resources, big weather, and advances in data science. The topics this Town Hall Meeting will address broadly are: Advances in the state of the art with forecasting renewable energy. How forecasts are being integrated into utility operations. What is the future of renewables forecasting…NWP, AI, or both. How are utilities dealing with the integration of distributed and centralized solar…are they different. This Town Hall Meeting is held in conjunction with the AMS Energy Committee and the AMS Renewable Energy Committees’ Seventh Conference on Weather, Climate and the New Energy Economy. For additional information, please contact Matt Parker matt.parker@srnl.doe.gov or Brian D'Agostino BDAgostino@semprautilities.com.

NOAA is beginning a study (NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture Study, or NSOSA) to plan for the future operational environmental satellite system that will follow GOES and JPSS, beginning about 2030. This is an opportunity to design a modern architecture with no pre-conceived notions regarding instruments, platforms, orbits, etc. Part of this study is the Space Platforms Requirements Working Group (SPRWG), which is being commissioned by NESDIS. The SPRWG is charged to assess new or existing requirements against the baseline architecture, and to provide relative priorities for observational requirements in the context of the future architecture. The SPRWG will confirm and/or provide inputs for new foundational (Level 0 and Level 1) requirements for the next generation of NOAA satellites post the GOES-R, JPSS, DSCOVR, and COSMIC-2 missions, with the goal of achieving a more flexible, responsive and sustainable architecture. For additional information, please contact Johannes Loschnigg johannes.loschnigg@gmail.com or Richard Anthes anthes@ucar.edu.

Looking for ideas for your local AMS chapter? Have an idea to share? Interested in learning about local AMS chapters? Join us at the second annual Local AMS Chapter Town Hall - designed for both student and regular chapter officers, members, and prospective members. This town hall will be held on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 from 8:00am to 8:30am. All chapters are invited to share their successful activities in addition to their challenges and seek advice from other chapters. Those interested in joining a local chapter are also invited to attend to learn about local AMS chapters and how to get involved. The Local Chapter Affairs Committee and local AMS chapters from across the country invite YOU to take part in this information sharing session! The town hall will be held at the Convention Center; room TBD. For questions, email amschaps@ametsoc.org.

This Town Hall session will provide an opportunity for the earth science community to interact with members of the leadership team and staff of the Earth Science Division (ESD) of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Brief presentations by the ESD leadership will precede a longer opportunity for audience questions. Topics to be addressed in the Town Hall session include scientific accomplishments and programmatic milestones from the past year, current programmatic directions, and upcoming milestones. Recent developments in the Venture Class program and the non-flight parts of the NASA program (research and analysis, applied sciences, technology), NASA's involvement in interagency and international programs and NASA’s response to and preparation for guiding documents, including the prior (2007) and forthcoming (2017) decadal survey from the National Academy of Sciences will all be reviewed and discussed in this session. For additional information, please contact Jack Kaye Jack.A.Kaye@nasa.gov.

Through its long-standing mission of science, service, and stewardship, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) generates tremendous value for the Nation—and the world—by advancing our understanding of and ability to anticipate changes in the Earth’s environment, by improving society’s ability to make scientifically informed decisions, and by conserving and managing ocean and coastal resources. At this Town Hall, NOAA leadership will discuss key strategic issues related to important topics for the broader weather, water, and climate enterprise. Representatives from both inside and external-to NOAA are encouraged to attend and engage in a conversation with NOAA leadership on current and future initiatives. For additional information, please contact Christina Crowe Christina.crowe@noaa.gov.

Vilhelm Bjerknes initiated the era of modern meteorology around 1900 when he proposed that weather prediction be treated as an initial value problem of mathematical physics. In the subsequent development of dynamic meteorology, Nordic and American scientists have played key roles. Their scientific interaction produced results that form today’s theoretical basis for our understanding of the behavior of the atmosphere and numerical weather prediction. Dr. Eliassen (speaker) will highlight selected parts of this transatlantic interaction from a scientific but also personal perspective since he met many of these scientists in his youth, being the son of one of those who played a key role in this period. Dr. Eliassen will also present the development of atmospheric chemistry and its relationship with dynamic meteorology based on personal experience. Finally he will have a look at whether the general public has received its fair share of present-day, high-quality weather forecasting. For additional information, please contact Annie Reiser ann.m.reiser@noaa.gov.

NOAA leadership has stated on several occasions that basic tenets of a rigorous National environmental strategy are: (1) societal weather readiness, (2) environmental intelligence and (3) environmental security. The Town Hall will convene a distinguished panel of experts with broad expertise in environmental satellites to address how the new generation of operational environmental satellites have and will contribute to achieving the objectives of the NWS Weather Ready Nation program and make our Nation better prepared for and responsive to a range of natural disasters. Impacts from severe storms in the United States cost billions of dollars and claim thousands of lives per year. “Becoming a Weather Ready Nation means not just providing timely, accurate, and reliable weather forecasts, but it also means communicating that information in a way that compels people to act to protect themselves and their interests. NOAA’s global observing systems are the foundation of the environmental intelligence NOAA provides. The FY 2016 budget includes critical investments in weather satellite systems and the NOAA fleet to preserve — and improve — the U.S. ability to generate environmental intelligence.”* Ensuring communities and businesses have the necessary information, products, and services to prepare for and prosper in a changing environment leads to environmental security. The current and new generation of operational polar-orbiting and geostationary environmental satellite systems (e.g., S-NPP, JPSS, GCOM-W, Metop, DMSP, Sentinels, GOES-R, MeteoSat and Himawari) with their new and improved sensor capabilities are being accompanied by novel and enhanced user applications. Such new capabilities as VIIRS Day-Night Band (DNB), GOES-R Global Lightning Monitor (GLM) lightning data, the satellites improved temporal and spatial resolution, and reduced data latencies combine to greatly advance our environmental situational awareness, intelligence, readiness, and security. *Source: Statement from Dr. Kathryn Sullivan on NOAA’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request For additional information, please contact Gary McWilliams gary.mcwilliams@noaa.gov.

Currently available systems to disseminate observations and model-generated data to atmospheric and climate scientists are varied, and funding agencies are exploring ways to harmonize data inventories into a form where researchers can access information in a seamless and efficient manner. We will summarize DOE efforts towards unification of sponsored data inventories, including investments to provide server side analysis, multi-dimensional visualization, federated data nodes, and options to overcome the growing data storage challenge. Within this Town Hall we hope to facilitate a forum whereby attendees can help shape our future plans. For addiitonal information, please contact Justin Hnilo Justin.hnilo@science.doe.gov.

Can't Stop the Water (http://www.cantstopthewater.com) is a film that tells the story of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, and the Native American community fighting to save its culture as its land washes away. For 170 years, the Isle de Jean Charles band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians has occupied the island deep in the bayous of south Louisiana. They have fished, hunted, and lived off the land. Now the land that has sustained them for generations is vanishing before their eyes. Years of gas and oil exploration have ravaged the surrounding marsh, leaving the island defenseless against the ocean tide and hurricanes that will eventually destroy it. Chief Albert Naquin is actively working to implement a sustainable community-driven relocation plan to bring his tribe together on higher ground, while still maintaining the Isle and its cultural significance. We will screen this film and hear from those supporting the community. For additional information, please contact Randy Peppler rpeppler@ou.edu or Heather Lazrus hlazrus@ucar.edu.

Some of the hardest work by our most recognized meteorologists doesn’t get recognized. Many broadcast meteorologists are involved in side research projects that other AMS members may not be aware of. Publishing the work in BAMS may not be a priority to some broadcasters as they already get plenty of recognition from being on TV, but that doesn’t mean the AMS community shouldn’t hear about it. While this will be a good opportunity for the broadcasters to gather at the annual meeting, the hope is this won’t be just a small AMS Broadcast Conference. Instead, we welcome all AMS members who are interested in learning from broadcasters and vice-versa. For additional information, please contact Rob Eicher eicher.rob@gmail.com or Maureen McCann maureen.mccann@gmail.com.

More and more weather forecasts and warnings are being communicated by categorical statements or simple graphic emojis. The public knows forecasting involves uncertainty but is increasingly left to evaluate uncertainty from personal experience before making a weather or climate related decision. Should there be a statement for the media and media messengers explaining the value of quantitative uncertainty information to aid in better public decision making in the use of weather and climate information? What and how should this information be communicated so the public is left feeling confident in their understanding of probabilities and uncertainties. Invited panelist include members from National Weather Association, Media Companies, Academia and Industry Risk Managers…all who are responsible for for communicating weather and climate information for the general public. For additional information, please contact Jenny Dissen jennydissen@cicsnc.org or Bob Ryan rtryan@cox.net.

While science can tell us what is true, it cannot answer the question of what is moral and just. Representatives from major faith groups will discuss the moral implications of the science of climate and climate change, and how we should frame our responses to the science. There will a special representative from the Roman Catholic Church to discuss the moral implications expressed in the Pope’s recent encyclical on climate change. Presentations will be relatively short allowing for maximum discussion with and between AMS attendees on how they are spiritually called to respond. For additional information, please contact Tim Miner tminer@alliedpilots.org (tel: 571.212.0804).

The Weather Coalition (WC) welcomes new and returning members, as well as non-members interested in learning about the Weather Coalition and its activities, to this Town Hall event. The Weather Coalition Co-Chairs will provide a status of the organization, summarize activities associated with weather-related advocacy and legislation that took place across the past year, and discuss expected activities during 2016. For additional information, please contact Pam Emch pam.emch@ngc.com.

The rapid growth of atmospheric, weather, and climate science applications in industry, finance, and the corporate sector opens a range of career opportunities for AMS members beyond the better known careers in academia and the federal government. In this Presidential Town Hall, weather enterprise leaders will share concepts, thoughts, and perspectives on how their industries operate and what skill sets they value. In addition, they will share thoughts on employment trends, changes, and areas of future growth. Whether you are a mid-career professional, freshly graduated, or looking for your next adventure, this discussion will raise your awareness of opportunities in our field, and the skills and competencies that employers are looking for. In the current ever-fluxing employment climate, when mid-career job changes are common and new directions and opportunities are emerging in our field, AMS is committed to supporting our members in bringing their skills to the service of society. Panelists: Heidi Centola, Manager of Business Development at Schneider Electric, Dr. Michael Farrar, Director, Meteorological Development Laboratory, and Dr. Kevin Petty, Chief Science Officer at Vaisala Moderator: Rebecca Haacker For additional information, please contact Scott Mackaro scott.mackaro@vaisala.com.

NASA Earth Science Division has made some significant additions to its fleet of satellites, with the recent launches of GPM, OCO-2, RapidScat, CATS, and SMAP. This brings the total number of operating NASA Earth science research missions to nineteen. In addition, the Division has ten Earth science missions currently in formulation and development, with six scheduled to launch before the end of 2018. These include SAGE III (2016), CYGNSS (2016), TEMPO (2017), GRACE FO (2017), ICESat-2 (2017), and ECOSTRESS (2018). NASA also has the responsibility for defining and implementing, in coordination with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the nation’s Sustainable Land Imaging (SLI) program to follow the currently flying Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 missions. Taking the next step in this process, NASA has initiated the planning for the Landsat 9 project. Another major project NASA is kicking off in 2016 is the PACE mission, to perform radiometric and possibly polarimetric ocean and atmosphere data collection, returning a range of geophysical data from which properties of the ocean and atmosphere can be determined to add to other critical climate and Earth system records. Additionally, NASA has been directed to continue the fundamental climate measurements of solar irradiance, Earth radiation budget, and Ozone profiling to extend these data records into the future. How will NASA meet these demanding measurement objectives? NASA’s Earth Science Division is working now, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the USGS, DOE, international partners, and with the industrial community on science studies, technology investments, and mission definition studies to prepare the next generation of satellites and observations for launch in 2019 and beyond. At this Town Hall meeting we will present the progress and plans for these next generation missions, including mission concepts from the 2007 NRC Decadal Survey (http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/decadal-surveys/) and from the 2010 NASA Climate Plan (http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/). We will identify opportunities for greater interaction with the NASA missions already in formulation and development, as well as opportunities for future collaboration as we move forward with this next generation of missions and measurements. For further information, please contact Eric Ianson eianson@nasa.gov.

At this town hall we will discuss NOAA’s strategic developments in managing the agency’s research portfolio. Specific areas of focus include strategic research guidance, transitioning research to operations, and managing our partnerships with academia and industry. For additional information, please contact Rick Spinrad rick.spinrad@noaa.gov.

The mission of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) is to extend the intellectual frontiers in atmospheric and geospace sciences by making responsible investments in fundamental research, technology development, and education to enable discoveries, nurture a vibrant, diverse scientific workforce, and help attain a prosperous and sustainable future. In this Town Hall meeting, the philosophies and strategies that will be applied to address the AGS mission during the coming years will be discussed. Specific topics include the framework in which AGS operates, interdisciplinary research, facilities, the role of broader impacts, and research frontiers that map to initiatives within the Geoscience Directorate and NSF overall. For additional information, please contact Patrick Harr pharr@nsf.gov.

In 2007, the National Research Council issued its inaugural “decadal survey” of all Earth sciences that could benefit from spaceborne observations (http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11820). The next survey, covering a 10-year period starting in late 2017, is again sponsored by NASA, NOAA, and the USGS. Some 100 community members are expected to serve on the survey’s steering committee or one of its study panels, and many more will participate via white paper submissions and outreach events. The survey occurs against a backdrop of both highly constrained budgets and ever-increasing national needs for Earth observations and information products. A key element of the survey will be a canvas of the community for new ideas about missions, programs, and capabilities to advance Earth system science and ensure the nation maintains healthy, robust, and successful research and application programs. Representatives from the survey will be on hand to lead a discussion towards these objectives. For additional information, please contact Art Charo acharo@nas.edu.

This panel and discussion will describe activities within NOAA and AMS to advance a comprehensive and integrated understanding of water. We will identify key challenges and opportunities for AMS and the broader community in collaboratively advancing the critical water issues facing our communities and business today. For additional information, please contact Ya’el Seid-Green yseidgreen@ametsoc.org or Eileen Shea eshea@att.net.

The world of weather and climate data collection is being transformed by the emergence of innovative data sources including commercial weather satellites, sensors on commercial aircraft, crowdsourced data via mobile phones and automobiles, and even drones. This panel will showcase key players in the weather value chain of the future, and discuss the opportunities and challenges of merging diverse data streams with advances in modeling, computing and data mining, in order to drive a dramatically better weather forecast and fuel a next generation of analytics and risk management solutions for various industries. For additional information, please contact Dan Stillman dstillman@planetiq.com.