| Alex graduated from Valparaiso University in May of 2016 with a B.S. in Meteorlogy and a minor in Mathematics. While at Valparaiso, Alex served as the Vice-President in the 2014-2015 school year and President in the 2015-2016 school year for the Meteorology Honors Society Chapter of Chi Epsilon Pi. Alex's favorite aspect of Chi Epsilon Pi was the outreach events the organization hosted to promote weather knowledge from kindergarten students through high school. Alex was a member of the Northwest Indiana Chparter the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and National Weather Association (NWA). As a member, Alex also served on the planning committee for the Great Lakes Meteorology Conference sponsored by the local chapter every year. In addition to Chi Epsilon Pi and AMS/NWA, Alex was also a member of the of the Storm Intercept Team (VUSIT). Alex participated in two of VUSIT's summer field convective studies in the Great Plains led by Dr. Bart Wolf. Alex served as the lead driver for the June 2015 study, and served as a team leader on a day chase in March 2016 in Central Illinois. Alex broadcasted daily weather updates for Valparaiso University Televsion while completing his B.S. in Meteorology. |
| Outside of the academia realm, Alex held a Student Volunteer Position at NOAA National Weather Service Weather Forecasting Office in Chicago/Romeoville, IL in the summer of 2015. Here, Alex had the chance to learn how a WFO operates, including severe weather operations. Alex enjoyed becoming familar with AWIPS, as well as having the opportunity to complete a Weather Event Simulation, issuing convective warnings "in real time" from a previous tornado case that occurred in the county warning area. Alex was also able to complete a storm damage survey. Alex completed a collaboration project with a major airline assesing the value of NWS Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs). In addition, Alex was also an Aviation Meteorology Intern for WSI in Chicago, IL completing TAFs for commerical airline customers. |
| Alex started at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in June 2016 to participate in field work with the Severe Storms Research Group (SSRG). The field work mainly was the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) along with the iMet to gather observations for STORM, PRECIP, and CLOUD-MAP projects. Alex will continue to be part of these field campaigns in the Summers of 2017 and 2018. Alex then started work on his master's degree at University of Nebraska - Lincoln in August of 2016. |