Expanding Opportunities Conference at Florida A&M Gives Sign of Progress
By John Jones
NWS Deputy Director

I attended the 4th Expanding Opportunities Conference for Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, on March 30 to April 1, 2003, to help encourage minority students to pursue the sciences, go for graduate degrees and possibly work for NOAA. This conference proved to me that we are making tremendous steps in this effort.

We are not only attracting more minority students to the sciences, but quality students! For example, in the next few years Howard University, a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), will produce minority students with Ph.D.s in atmospheric science which will double or triple the current rate.

The conference, co-sponsored by NOAA and Florida A&M University, was held on A&M's lovely campus in Tallahassee. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Sam Bodman was one of the conference keynote speakers. NOAA senior management was represented by Deputy Assistant Secretary Tim Keeney along with representatives, mostly from the Director or Deputy level, from each of the line offices.

Panel discussions covered areas represented by each of the NOAA Minority Serving Institution (MSI) initiative centers, Living Marine Resources, Environmental Sciences, Remote Sensing and Atmospheric Science. NWS is responsible for a successful NOAA Center for Atmospheric Science, led by Howard University with Jackson State University, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. An entire series of sessions was also devoted to educational advances, governmental and private sector career opportunities, and the integration of science, policy, management, and outreach.

The hit of the conference was poster presentations by the students, both undergraduate and graduate. Beside the four schools already mentioned, students attending schools from Puerto Rico to New York to Idaho to Hawaii to Arizona and back to Florida were there. Over 80 posters were displayed covering topics of interest to NOAA, mainly sciences in the four centers named above. The level of research and spectrum of topics was impressive. Three undergraduates and three graduate students with outstanding posters were honored at an awards lunch where the top prize was $500.

I was quite impressed with these students. Through the NOAA MSI initiative and other NOAA student programs, you may start seeing more of what I saw the last few days. I think you too will be impressed.

For more information on NOAA's Educational Partnership Program with MSIs, click here.

SMG Briefs Columbia Accident Investigation Board

The NWS Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) continues to provide expert assistance to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) following the break-up of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003.

On March 28, 2003, SMG briefed the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) on NEXRAD WSR-88D radar data over Texas and Louisiana at the time of the accident. This briefing included an introduction to WSR-88D design and interpretation, and demonstrations of radar loops showing the suspended debris field and its motion following the accident. SMG's briefing emphasized the limitations of using the WSR-88D to locate large debris.

Weather radar data analyzed by the NWS Radar Operations Center, the National Severe Storms Laboratory, and the Spaceflight Meteorology Group provided an initial view of potential debris locations to NASA investigation teams. The data gathering effort by NWS Southern Region Headquarters and Weather Forecast Offices throughout the country allowed a detailed analysis of the weather radar data to be in the hands of the Debris Collection Team within a week of the accident.

SMG is coordinating a multi-agency effort to reconstruct the atmospheric conditions that Columbia flew through on its ill-fated descent. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Data Assimilation Office is providing a gridded analysis of the entry atmosphere up to 250,000 feet. Above this altitude, the Marshall Space Flight Center Global Reference Atmosphere Model 1999 is supplementing the analysis. SMG is analyzing and customizing the modeled atmosphere for the NASA Johnson Space Center. In addition, SMG is using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Global Data Analysis System to provide additional input.

According to SMG Meteorologist-In-Charge Frank Brody, SMG's top priority will continue to be supporting NASA and the CAIB in reviewing and understanding meteorological data associated with the Columbia disaster. In addition, SMG will be an active participant in the Space Shuttle Program's "Return to Flight" evaluations of weather flight rules and other factors.

NWS Staff Participates in Wisconsin Governor's Conference on Emergency Management

Several NWS staff participated with more than 500 emergency managers and law enforcement personnel in the 36th Annual Wisconsin Governor's Conference on Emergency Management held March 18-19, 2003, in Appleton, WI.

Warning Coordination Meteorologists Jeff Last, WFO Green Bay,WI; Rusty Kapela, WFO Milwaukee/Sullivan,WI; and Todd Shea, WFO LaCrosse, WI; were joined by Meteorologists-In-Charge Craig Edwards, WFO Minneapolis, MN; and Gary Austin, WFO Green Bay.

The conference included breakout sessions focusing on recent disasters and current issues in emergency management.

Last, Kapela, Shea, and Edwards presented a breakout session highlighting Wisconsin's 2002 weather, NOAA Weather Radio expansion, and StormReady in Wisconsin. Kapela also participated in a seminar on the role of the NWS in support of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

The NWS staff also answered questions from visitors to the StormReady booth in the exhibit hall.

Aberdeen, SD, Hosts 2003 Women In Science Conference

More than 350 students and 20 teachers turned out for the second Women In Science (WIS) Conference hosted by the NWS and its partners at the Johnson Fine Arts Center on the campus of Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD, on March 4, 2003.

Ten guest speakers were featured, including: Karen Nyberg, a NASA astronaut from Vining, MN, as the keynote speaker; Noreen Schwein, Hydrology Program Leader for the Services Division of NWS Central Region in Kansas City, MO; and Kelly Whitaker, Information Technology Officer, NWS Weather Forecast Office, Rapid City, SD.

The conference is a major feature of an overall WIS program begun by WFO Aberdeen in 2002. While the program is geared toward 7th - 10th grade girls, the information provided is available to all students.

In addition to the guest speakers, this year's conference also featured:

• a logo design contest, with the designer of the winning logo receiving a $500 savings bond and runner up receiving a $250 savings bond, and
• an essay contest, with the winners and runners-up receiving savings bonds.

Training Module on Gap Winds Available

The Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) has released a new web-based module titled "Gap Winds." This is the latest Core Module in the Mesoscale Meteorology Primer series. This module provides a basic understanding of why gap winds occur, their typical structures, and how gap wind strength and extent are controlled by larger scale, or synoptic, conditions. In this module, a number of important gap flows in coastal regions around the world are addressed, with special attention given to comprehensively documented gap wind cases in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Columbia River Gorge. This module is available from the "New" listing on the Meteorology, Education and Training (MetEd) homepage (http://meted.ucar.edu) or it can be accessed at http://meted.ucar.edu/mesoprim/gapwinds/index.htm.

Also On the Web...Travel Charge Card Training

NOAA is requiring all Citibank travel charge cardholders to complete on-line cardholder training on the proper use of the travel card by April 30, 2003. The General Services Administration offers the online training class on proper use of a government travel card. According to NOAA's Finance Office/Comptroller, after successfully completing the training, employees should notify their supervisors, and print and maintain the certificate of training in their personal files. Current cardholders and approving officials should review a list of do's and don'ts on the proper use of the travel card at: http://www.rdc.noaa.gov/~finance/do's%20&%20dont's.pdf.

Employee Milestones

• Click here to see NEW APPOINTMENTS/TRANSFERS to NWS through March 31, 2003.
• Click here to see RETIREMENTS/DEPARTURES from NWS through March 31, 2003.