NATIONAL WEATHER ASSOCIATION

AWARDS

BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS AT ANNUAL MEETINGS


In 2005, the NWA Weather Analysis and Forecasting (WAF) Committee initiated this addition to the NWA Awards Program.  At each Annual Meeting, students (undergraduate and graduate) make known their wishes to be in competition for these awards when they submit their abstracts. Members of the WAF Committee review each presentation and recommend their choices of the best to the NWA President for approval. The President awards the students with a congratulatory letter, a cash stipend and a complimentary NWA membership for the following year.

BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS at the 34th NWA ANNUAL MEETING

John Gagan, chair of the NWA WAF Committee announced the winners of the best student presentations for the NWA Annual Meeting in Norfolk, Virginia, 18-22 October 2009. John’s committee of judges included NWA members: Kevin Scharfenberg, Alan Gerard, Scott Rochette, Christina Crowe, Elise Johnson and Tony Lupo. The quality of posters and presentations once again made for difficult judging decisions.


Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation:  Morgan E. Brooks, North Carolina State University, for Methodology and Assessment of Marine Small Craft Advisories issued by the Baltimore/Washington National Weather Service Office. Her co-authors were Brandon Peloquin and Steven Zubrick of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Sterling, VA.

Second Place Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation:  Cort Scholten, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, for Analyses of Radar-Observed Descending Reflectivity Cores in Supercell Thunderstorms. His co-author was Dr. Leigh Orf of Central Michigan University.
Third Place Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation:  Charles Aldrich, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, for In the Heat, Check the Backseat!. His co-author was John Gordon of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Louisville, KY.



There were no undergraduate oral presentations this year.


Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation:  C. Forbes Tompkins, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL,, for Modeling Studies of Mesoscale Convective Systems and Tropical Cyclogenesis along the Coast of West Africa. His co-author was Dr. Sen Chiao of the Florida Institute of Technology.

Second Place Graduate Graduate Student Poster Presentation:  Ruth L. Nahmensen, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, for Composite Analysis of Cool-Season Severe Weather Outbreaks in the Lower Ohio Valley. Her co-authors were Chad Gravelle and Dr. Charles Graves of Saint Louis University, Theodore Funk of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Louisville, KY and Patrick Spoden of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Paducah, KY.
Third Place Graduate Student Poster Presentation:  Shari Dixon, Howard University,, for Observations of Lightning Trends Using the Washington D.C. Lightning Mapping Array (DC-LMA) and Severe Weather. Her co-authors were Gregory Jenkins of Howard University, Mamoudou Ba of NOAA/NWS/MDL Silver Spring, MD and Steven Zubrick of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Sterling, VA.

Best Graduate Oral Poster Presentation:  Chad Gravelle, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO,, for Verification of the Cooperative Institute for Precipitation Systems Analog Guidance Probabilistic Products. His co-authors were Dr. Charles Graves of Saint Louis University, John Gagan of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Springfield, MO, Fred Glass of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in St. Louis, MO and Michael Evans of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Binghamton, NY.

The breakdown for both the undergraduate and graduate poster awards is as follows:
1st Prize:  $125 and 2010 NWA Dues
2nd Prize:  $75 and 2010 NWA Dues
3rd Prize:  2010 NWA Dues

Only one prize is awarded to those competing for oral presentations:
1st Prize: $75 and 2010 NWA Dues



BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS AT PREVIOUS ANNUAL MEETINGS:

BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS at the 33rd NWA ANNUAL MEETING
Louisville, Kentucky, 11-16 October 2008

Best Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation: Chauncy Schultz, University of North Dakota, for A Reanalysis of the Fargo, North Dakota F5 Tornado (20 June 1957) Using Today's Technology.
Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation: Elizabeth Thompson, Valparaiso University Indiana, for Analysis of the 4 July 2006 Washington, DC Severe Thunderstorm: Overview with Synoptic and Mesoscale Assessment. Her co-authors were Sarah Rogowski, Steven Zubrick and Steve Listemaa of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Sterling, VA.
Second Place Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation: Jayson Gosselin, Saint Louis University, for Compositing Analysis of Heavy Snow Events Within the Saint Louis, Missouri, County Warning Area. His co-authors were Chad Gravelle and Charles E. Graves of Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, and Fred Glass of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Saint Charles, Missouri.
Third Place Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation: Kimberly Hoogewind, Central Michigan University, for Accuracy of a Local WRF-ARW Model Run for the 22-24 December 2007 Cyclone Using the New Model Evaluation Tools Verification Package. Her co-author was Martin Baxter, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation: Elise Johnson, University of Alabama-Huntsville, for Lightning Behavior and its Dependence on Storm Kinematic and Precipitation Processes for an EF-4 Tornado Producing Supercell on 6 February 2008.
Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Emily Berndt, Saint Louis University, for WRF-ARW Simulations of a Mesoscale Snowband Event in Des Moines Iowa. Her co-author was Charles E. Graves of Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri.
Second Place Graduate Student Poster Presentation: David Keeney, Mississippi State University, for Relationship Between Vegetation Boundaries and Severe Local Storms in the Delta Region of Mississippi. His co-author was Michael Brown of Mississippi State University.
Third Place Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Christina Crowe, University of Alabama-Huntsville, for Mesoscale Analysis of the Jackson County Storm: February 5-6, 2008..

BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS at the 32nd NWA ANNUAL MEETING
Reno, Nevada, 13-18 October 2007

Best Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation: Ryan Kelly, Kean University, for Integrating NJWXNET, WRF and GIS to Study NJ Mesoscale Weather Phenomena. His co-author was Shing Yoh, Kean University, Union, New Jersey.
Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation: Brandon Hoving, Central Michigan University, for Accuracy of a WRF Simulation of the 12 June 2001 Mesoscale Convective System. His co-author was Martin Baxter, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation: Brian J. Billings, Desert Research Institute, for Determining the Onset of Strong Westerlies During Persistent Mountain Wave Activity. His co-author was Vanda Grubisic, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada.
Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Chad Gravelle, Saint Louis University, for A Climatology and Statistical Classification of Midwestern Snow Bands: A Process-Oriented Approach. His co-authors were Charles Graves, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, and Scott Rochette, SUNY College at Brockport, New York.

BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS at the 31st NWA ANNUAL MEETING
Cleveland, Ohio, 14-19 October 2006

Best Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation: Christina Crowe, University of Missouri-Columbia, for On the Co-existence of Thundersnow and Heavy Snowfall. Her co-authors were Patrick Market, Brian Pettegrew, and Chris Melick, of the University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri.
Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation: Audra C. Hennecke, The Pennsylvania State University, for Enhancements to Area Specific Flash Flood Warnings. Her co-authors were Stephen Rogowski, Richard Hitchens and Sarah E. Allen of NOAA/NWS Office, Sterling, Virginia.
Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation: Benjamin V. Root, The Pennsylvania State University, for A Fingerprinting Technique for Major Weather Events. His co-authors were Paul G. Knight, Penn State University, Richard H. Grumm, NOAA/NWS Office State College, Pennsylvania, Jeremy Ross, ZedX Inc., and Steven Greybush, Penn State University.
Best Graduate Poster Presentation: Emily Eisenacher, Saint Louis University, for An Investigation of the Radar Characteristics and the Environment of a Mesoscale Snowband that formed on 15 March 2004. Her co-authors were Charles E. Graves and the late James T. Moore, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri.  

BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS at the 30th NWA ANNUAL MEETING
Saint Louis, Missouri, 15-20 October 2005

Best Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation:  Nathan Davis, University of Missouri-Columbia, for An Analysis of the Impact of Blocking on North American and Eurasian Summers
Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation:  Andrea Lammers, Indiana University at Bloomington, and Sarah Ede, Western Kentucky University, for Designing Historical Weather Posters
Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation:  Michael Paddock, Saint Louis University, for A Conceptual Model Depicting Processes Important for the Generation of Meso-Beta Scale Snow Bands
Best Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Kevin Birk, University of Missouri-Columbia, for The Interannual Variability of Midwestern Temperatures as related to the ENSO and PDO