"The Business of Weather": A seminar course designed to overcome a gap in the traditional meteorological curriculum

Recent years have been witness to a significant growth in the private sector of meteorology. This growth has offered many new opportunities for meteorologists. However, the typical meteorological curriculum does not explicitly prepare students for these new opportunities. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the Spring 2000 semester, a seminar course entitled "The Business of Weather" was offered to undergraduate and graduate students in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department. This seminar course, created by graduate students, was designed to familiarize students with the growing opportunities within the private sector, with an emphasis on the rapidly growing weather derivatives market. The course contained a combination of student presentations and guest speakers. The guest speakers included participants from energy companies, financial institutions, airlines, agricultural technology, and private forecasting companies. Student run discussions included topics such as the role of the National Weather Service vs. the private sector, economics of climate change, and the weather sensitivity of industries such as insurance, transportation, and agriculture.