Welcome!

Greetings, and thanks for viewing my blog. It is here that I will provide information and updates on the severe weather research internship I will be taking part in during the summer of 2009 and beyond.

On September 9th, 2008, Dr. Nolan Atkins, my physical meteorology professor, introduced our class to the project and the internship opportunity. I was very interested, and received the application on September 16th. Here is the position background applicants were given:

"The positions will involve participation in the upcoming VORTEX 2 field program from mid May to mid June, 2009. Thereafter, the positions are full time research assistantships for the rest of the summer and part time (10 hours per week) the following academic year (your senior year). The research will be conducted here at LSC.

While in the field, you would be responsible for helping with photographing the tornado funnel and debris clouds. This will involve long days, driving many hours, and staying in cheap motels as we chase storms in the central US. After a tornado event has occurred, you would assist in the damage survey effort. This will include photo-documenting the location and extent of the damage produced by the tornado.

After the field phase, you will help with the data analysis that includes analyzing the photographs of the tornado and debris clouds, the damage survey data, and high-resolution Doppler On Wheels (DOW) Doppler radar data of the tornadic storm.

In addition to learning about the research process and severe weather, the successful applicants will present their research results at the AMS annual meeting (January, 2010) and will be included as a coauthor on a conference and/or journal article publication."

How cool does that sound?! I worked on the application for a while and submitted it on the due date of October 31st. What was unique about this opportunity is that there were 2 positions available, with a relatively small (less than 10) number of people applying. I was cautiously optimistic of my chances.

On November 20th, 2008, I was informed that I had a spot! I was elated and had a really good few days after that. Thanksgiving break was the following week, and I must've told people about it a hundred times over the break. Now here I am back at school, finishing up the semester. I wanted to start this blog now so the journey leading up to as well as the intenrship itself could be followed. Shortly, I will be posting some information about the VORTEX2 field project that we will be a part of.

Thanks for reading...check back often for updates!!!