Stephen Shield received his master's degree from The Ohio State University in August of 2018. As a graduate student in the Department of Geography. Shield's coursework focused on quantitative spatial analysis methods including spatial statistics and geographic information systems (GIS). Shield also received a certificate in the practice of data analytics from The Ohio State University after completing a four course program covering the topics of statistical analysis, data mining, machine learning, and visual analytics.

In May of 2016 Shield received his bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Shield majored in meteorology-climatology and minored in mathematics and geography. The coursework from his bachelors meets Series 1340 Qualifications He also took coursework in statistics, geographic information systems (GIS), as well as courses focused on weather impacts.