BWM MEETING – January 16, 2002 Introductions of meeting attendees

  • Address list sent around

Mish explains ad hoc committees

Mish introduces Howie Friedman—new BWM Chair

Mish welcomes back: Katy Ginger, Henry Robinson, and Ben Watkins. All have been appointed to serve for a second 3-year term on the board.

Tom Windham discusses SOARS and his award

The Weather Classroom – Careers in Meteorology video

  • Volunteers to take extra copies home. If you were not able to get extra copies of the video from Stephanie Armstrong in Orlando, contact her via email at .
  • Plans in the works for middle school climate video done through TWC education department in 2003
  • TWC also plans to do a second career video in the 4th quarter of 2002
  • Minority scholarship applications sent out with the videos

Demographic Survey Paper

  • Published in July 2001 BAMS
  • Will be recreated after survey of membership in 2003
  • Want to continue to collect data about every 5 years to continue longitudinal study
  • Review handout #2 to see new additions/changes
  • Paper published online funded by NSF – done every two years called Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering. Provides a data set for comparison
  • Next sampling of AMS membership to be collected in Fall of 2003

BWM Website

  • More pictures welcome
  • Feel free to post any awards, info, etc that would be useful…send information to . Sarah is acting as informal web master.
  • Website includes members (past & present), information on women & minorities, scholarship applications
  • Send pictures to -- mention that these are for BWM
  • Need to check to see if the website is disability compatible
  • Think about website for students

NSF Geosciences Diversity and National Dissemination Program – Ira Geer

Online Weather Studies – Ira Geer & Elizabeth Mills

  • Elizabeth Mills is coordinator for online weather studies program
  • Developed online weather studies which enables college students to learn about the weather as it is happening
  • Foundation for this program based on an AMS effort to encourage minorities to become interested in the sciences
  • Over 100 colleges around the country are either currently using online weather studies, or have already used it
  • Students taking the course may be education majors and this may be their only science class that they take in college
  • Received funding from NSF to implement online weather studies to over 100 minority serving institutions – i.e. historically black colleges, tribal colleges & universities, Hispanic/Latino colleges & universities, and any other college/university which has minorities make up 30% of their population
  • When a college purchases this package, they are offered a 5-day training seminar and are also invited to attend the next AMS Annual Meeting to display a poster about their program
  • Would like to set up a mentoring program
  • Brochures available
  • Redoing text book – adding all color photos, including critical thinking methods
  • Working closely with Prof Bill Porter of ElizabethUniversity(?)
  • Closely tied with NWS – want to set up mentoring relationship between students and nearby NWS offices
  • Want to help make contacts with minority serving institutions
  • Total funding for the four year program is about one million dollars
  • Please give Ira names of anyone who may be helpful with implementing this program – i.e. contact names, faculty members at minority institutions, names of colleges, etc.
  • Howie is part of another committee serving underrepresented groups in the sciences – and would like to work closely with Ira
  • Pre-college teachers also needed for workshops – have been bringing in about 5 a year from South Africa
  • Online weather studies information page listed on their website
  • Mish’s ideas:
  • Post names that would be helpful to Ira on listserve
  • Set up mentoring program – need Ira to let everyone know where the current universities using this program are located
  • BWM hosts the poster session for these institutions
  • Include this program in a symposium eventually hosted by BWM
  • Tom wants SOARS to be working closely with Ira as well
  • NOAA has a program which could accept students for summer internships – talk to Tony
  • Will post all this information on the BWM website with a link to AMS education website

NWS WIT Team – Julie Winkler

  • See Julie’s packet
  • Ed Young is the WIT chair
  • Mish’s ideas:
  • Encourage all NWS offices to branch out with other local mets, weather companies, science museums so they are not doing outreach in a vacuum
  • Howie notes that there is a lot of overlap with this project and other projects, and a lot of this could be coordinated with other groups
  • The warning coordination met in each NWS office needs to be more proactive and reach out to more diverse groups, rather than just reacting to those that call in and request assistance

Sally Ride Science Camps – Sarah Long

  • Sarah overviews the Imaginary Lines packet
  • TWC already involved in the program
  • TWC would like to coordinate tours of the weather center, make a booth, volunteers from female meteorologists or OCMs – to be held at a local hotel when Sally Ride is in Atlanta (probably October)
  • How AMS & BWM can be involved:
  • Price is $30 per year for a girl’s membership
  • AMS can sponsor these girls and pay for their dues
  • Good activity for local chapters
  • Post to our website the cities that the Sally Ride Science Fair’s are traveling to – if members are nearby they could get involved
  • Mailing to broadcast mets and they could get word out as well
  • Mentoring relationship between local chapters as well
  • Tom notes that it is hard to get the word out to the public – some local chapters have trouble reaching out
  • This project could be part of criteria for local chapter awards
  • Side note: please post to list serve/website any other organizations that do similar work (i.e. Blue Hill’s program)

2007 Dr. Martin Luther King Day Symposium

  • Include teachers from schools involved in Ira’s online weather studies program
  • Tom notes that it might be helpful to bring in educational & entertaining guests from local San Antonio groups
  • AMS needs to respect the day and make sure there is no overlap with other AMS meetings
  • Keith believes that this symposium will be similar to the President’s Address in which this is the only meeting occurring at that time
  • Volunteers/Task Force: Marshall Shepard, Esther Atkins (has connections with local city government officials in San Antonio), Tom Windham, Ahsha, Katy, Ada Monzon, Vernon, Ed Young, Sim Aberson
  • Include NASA

New Book Project

  • Kim Perez of TWC
  • Kim is working closely with the publisher
  • Outline of the book is included in packet – handout #3
  • TWC will purchase about 1000 copies and hand them out at workshops
  • TWC will work with weather.com to put it online as well
  • Advertisements in the book for AMS and TWC
  • Publishers work closely through Girl Scouts and Barnes & Noble
  • Completed in May or June of 2002
  • Get word to Sally Ride, local chapters, local broadcast mets, local girls organizations

Minority Scholarship Winners

  • 2001 Candidate Pool:
  • 20 females, 27 males
  • 5 Asian/Pacific Islanders, 18 Hispanics, 20 Black/African American, 2 American Indians/Alaska Native
  • 10 Winners: 3 females, 7 males, 5 Hispanics, 3 Blacks, 2 Asians
  • Carl Arrendondo was instrumental in the success of the student he mentors
  • Mentors for new scholarship winners
  • Ada Monzon: OrlandoSegura
  • Katy: Jai Jun (Jason) Wen
  • Sarah Long: Ronald Porter
  • Ada Monzon: Jordan Lucero
  • John: Gabriel Garfield
  • Kathy: Marcia Hsu
  • Shirley: Justin Mosely
  • Mish: Kyle Bush
  • Mish: Vianney Lopez
  • John: Erick Adame
  • Ada’s idea to follow through appropriately with the broadcast mets—

The scholarship application is sent to all broadcast mets, but there is no follow up as to who received the scholarships. AMS needs to do this.

  • Ideas of bringing in these winners to the annual conference and the student conference

"Remaking" BAMS

  • Include other topics besides just research papers
  • Should represent the Society as a whole
  • New section called "Nowcasting"
  • Local chapter news included
  • Section for forecasters and sharing forecasting experiences
  • Feature articles for different people doing different things
  • "45 Beacon" – announcements about what is going on in the society (i.e. videotape production, scholarships, etc) – good way to incorporate the work of BWM
  • Excerpts of books being published – have Kim Perez write a little essay about being a woman meteorologist and they will add a little add for our book also
  • Contact Jeff by email or phone – can be found on the website

Anderson Award

  • Deadline of May 1
  • John Snow awarded the 2001 Anderson Award
  • New names of nominees: Ira Geer (packet completed), Dave Houghton (packet completed), John Cortinas (nominated by Tom Windham)
  • New names can also be emailed to Mish or listed on the listserve

Battan Awards

  • Nominations: Absolute Zero and The Quest of Cold, by Tom Shachtman
  • Volunteers to read: Jenny Dean from weather.com: , Shirley Murillo
  • Official nominations for books on AMS website

Other notes:

  • Add Jenny Dean to list serve