GWC closes Season 2 with a very special episode. We had the opportunity to speak with three leaders who are all making significant contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the weather space - and they’re tackling it from very different directions.

Dr. Stella Kafka is the Chief Executive of the American Meteorological Society.

Dr. Melissa Burt is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the Department of Atmospheric Science and College of Engineering at Colorado State University. She is also the Vice President for the non-profit 501(c)3 organization, the Earth Science Women’s Network, and a co-founder of Science Moms, a non-partisan group of climate scientists and mothers working to give our children the planet they deserve.

Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain is a Senior Social Scientist with the National Weather Service, and serves as the National Center for Environmental Prediction Coordinator for Social Science Applications.

References during show: American Meteorological Society: https://www.ametsoc.org/ AMS Annual Meeting 2024: https://annual.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/2024/ Clear Skies Ahead podcast: https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/education-careers/careers/career-guides-tools/all-about-careers-in-meteorology/clear-skies-ahead-podcast/

The Girls Who Chase Podcast is recorded and edited by Jen Walton. “Badlands” - our music - is by Lori Bailey and Inês Lobo.

“Motivation Orchestra” for Spring Training promo is licensed via Envato. Find out all about us and more at www.girlswhochase.com. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @girlswhochase. See our videos & podcast media on YouTube under Girls Who Chase Storms - youtube.com/girlswhochase Please support our important work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/girlswhochase

Karen Kosiba has always been fascinated by the world around her.  As a child she collected caterpillars, built model bridges, took lots of photos, and stayed up late watching lightning.  When she started college, she considered careers in architecture, patent law, and veterinary medicine, but ultimately decided that observational studies of severe weather (somehow) combined all of her interests. Karen now the Managing Director of the F.A.R.M. (Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets) Facility and is an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Illinois. Her research mainly focuses on the kinematics and dynamics of severe convective storms, characterizing the low-level wind structure in tornadoes, and understanding the boundary layer winds and small-scale structures in landfalling hurricanes. Key to her research is executing field projects to collect data that can be analyzed to better understand and predict these hazardous weather events.  A strong believer in experiencing weather from the inside of a mobile weather radar, she has participated as a radar operator, project scientist, and project leader in a multitude of field projects. She has collected data in over 100 tornadoes and has deployed radars in nine hurricanes. Additionally, she is passionate about science education, regularly participating in outreach activities at schools, museums, and festivals, and in media interviews.  She has a B.S. and an M.S. in Physics, an M.A.T in Teacher Education, and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science.

A quick disclaimer about this interview, which was originally recorded in November 2022 –  while the project references are good, the timing on the projects is going to sound a bit off. Please take note of this when dates are referenced in the discussion. 

The Girls Who Chase Podcast is recorded and edited by Jen Walton. “Badlands” - our music - is by Lori Bailey and Inês Lobo. 

“Motivation Orchestra” for Spring Training promo is licensed via Envato.

Find out all about us and more at www.girlswhochase.com.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @girlswhochase.

See our videos & podcast media on YouTube under Girls Who Chase Storms - youtube.com/girlswhochase

Please support our important work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/girlswhochase

Jessica Moore (joined on this episode by her daughter, Lily) is a meteorologist, photographer, and storm chaser of over 10 years based out of Colorado Springs, CO. She has a degree in Broadcast & Operational Meteorology from Mississippi State University. Jessica grew up enamored by the wild weather extremes she experienced in Colorado, which sparked her passion for storm photography. Her passion is being in the field documenting all modes of extreme weather, from fires and floods to blizzards, hail storms, and tornadoes. She worked with WeatherNationTV as a field correspondent for over a year, and her extreme weather footage has been on The Weather Channel, ABC, NBC, CNN, CBS, AccuWeather, FOX Weather, and more. She recently launched a storm chasing tour company called Stormscapes Photo Tours and looks forward to sharing her passion for weather with her tour guests.

References during show: COMET’s MetEd program: https://www.meted.ucar.edu/index.php Tim Vasquez: https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/tim-vasquez/458299/

Jessica Moore social and links: Twitter: @JessicaMooreWx and @stormscapestour IG: @jessicamoore.photographer Facebook: @jessicamoorestormchaser YouTube: @jessicamooremeteorologist

The Girls Who Chase Podcast is recorded and edited by Jen Walton. “Badlands” - our music - is by Lori Bailey and Inês Lobo.

Find out all about us and more at www.girlswhochase.com. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @girlswhochase. See our videos & podcast media on YouTube under Girls Who Chase Storms - youtube.com/girlswhochase Please support our important work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/girlswhochase