BRUCE G. THOMAS is a candidate for President–Elect. Since 2004, he has served as Chief Meteorologist and National Spokesperson for Midland Radio Corporation, Kansas City, MO. Bruce has been recognized by the Department of Commerce with the Mark Trail Award for outstanding service promoting All Hazards NOAA Weather Radio nationally. Prior to his work with Midland Radio, Bruce spent almost two decades as a broadcast meteorologist. He has worked throughout Tornado Alley, at television stations KBTX in Bryan/College Station, KCEN in Waco, and KCTV in Kansas City. Bruce is an active individual member and corporate member of the NWA and is serving in his second year as an NWA Councilor. He also is active with the AMS where he has served as chairman of the AMS Local Chapter Affairs Committee (LCAC) and now serves as a member of the AMS Board for Private Sector Meteorologists. Bruce attended Mississippi State University from 1979 – 1983 and majored in Geosciences before transferring to the Metropolitan State College of Denver where he received a BS in Broadcast Meteorology in 1986. Weather observing and forecasting have been his life’s passions. As a child, he experienced tremendous floods, hurricanes and tornadoes in his home state of Mississippi. Weather safety and education continue to be a major priority for Bruce. He is currently working on several hurricane safety campaigns in the Gulf Coast states and has helped create two documentary programs on the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. He would appreciate the opportunity to serve as your National Weather Association President for the year 2010.

STEVEN M. ZUBRICK is a candidate for President–Elect. He is the Science and Operations Officer (SOO) at the NWS Forecast Office, Sterling, VA. From 1986 until 1991, he was the science focal point at the NWS Headquarters’ Office of Meteorology, Silver Spring, MD. Prior to joining federal service, Steve worked as an Environmental Scientist with Radian Corporation, Austin, TX from 1981 until 1986. He earned his B.S. degree in physics (minor in geology) from the University of Dayton (1978) and a M.S. degree in atmospheric and earth sciences from Old Dominion University (1981). Steve has been an active member of the NWA since 1985. He served as NWA Treasurer from 1994 – 1995, and again from 2005 to present (2008), and as NWA Secretary from 1996 – 1997. He was on the planning committee for the NWA’s 25th Annual Meeting. He is the current chairman of the NWA Finance Committee and is an active member of the NWA Publications Committee. He currently serves on the AMS Board on the Urban Environment. In September, 2006, Steve completed the Department of Commerce’s 2–year Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP). As part of his ELDP course, Steve worked nearly 5 months in the NOAA Budget Office helping prepare NOAA’s FY08 annual budget submission. Over the past two decades, Steve has published or presented over 65 papers, preprints, invited presentations and other technical publications. He has presented several papers and given workshops at NWA national meetings. He has also been involved with the AMS including, most recently, serving on the program and planning committee for the AMS 22nd Severe Local Storms Conference held in October 2006. He also served on the AMS planning committee in 2003 – 2004 for the AMS Symposium on Planning, Nowcasting, and Forecasting in the Urban Zone held at the AMS Annual Meeting 2004. Steve has also served on a number of AMS national committees including the radar committee (1998 – 2001), the committee on mesoscale processes (1997 – 2000), and the AMS Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) on artificial intelligence (AI) (1992 – 1995). He serves as a reviewer for manuscripts submitted to both the NWA and AMS publications. Steve is a member of Sigma Xi — the Scientific Research Society and Sigma Pi Sigma – the National Physics Honor Society. Steve represented the NOAA/NWS on the U.S. Weather Research Program (USWRP) Science Steering Committee from 1999 – 2002. In 1998, he served on the USWRP’s 10th Prospectus Development Team charged with identifying research needs and opportunities related to short-term prediction of weather and air quality in the urban zone. He was a member of the COMET Advisory Panel from 1992 to 1997. During his tenure, the Sterling office has been recognized with many awards, including Department of Commerce gold (3) and bronze (3) medals – totaling 6 medals in 8 years, numerous local and state awards, and NOAA Unit Citations. In 1995, Steve received a NOAA Administrator Award for his work as a SOO.

RALPH R. FERRARO is a candidate for Vice-President. He is the Chief of the Satellite Climate Studies Branch with NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) which is collocated with the Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies (CICS) in College Park, Maryland. He began his career at NOAA in 1991 and prior to that, worked as a support contractor to NOAA and NASA. Ralph received the B.S. in meteorology from Rutgers University in 1980 and the M.S. in meteorology from University of Maryland in 1982. Ralph has specialized in the development of algorithms for the retrieval of hydrological cycle products (such as rain rate and total precipitable water) from passive microwave satellite measurements. He has been instrumental in transitioning such products from research to operations, as well as working with operational meteorological centers on developing applications for these products. This has included sensors such as the DMSP Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), the NOAA Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), the EOS Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). He also serves as NOAA’s focal point on the upcoming NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM). Ralph has authored numerous papers on the subject in a variety of scientific journals, including the National Weather Digest, as well as given a number of presentations at scientific forums such as the NWA and AMS annual meetings. Finally, he has worked with COMET on developing and evaluating training modules focusing on microwave remote sensing. Ralph has been a member of the NWA since 1981 and has served as a member on the Remote Sensing Committee since 1997 and is completing a three-year term as a Councilor on the NWA Council (2006 – 2008). He received the Dept. of Commerce Bronze Medal in 1995, Dept. of Commerce Silver Medal in 1999 and again in 2004. Ralph is a member of the NASA Precipitation Measurements Mission Science Team and co-chairs the WMO International Working Group on Precipitation. He has also served on the AMS committee on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography for over eight years, which included serving as committee chair, organizing conferences and short courses. Ralph is a strong advocate in promoting meteorology to young students, and as such, is active in working with elementary and middle school children on various weather related projects. Additionally, he has worked closely with numerous sports organizations in his community on developing and implementing lightning safety policies.

PATRICK S. MARKET, Ph.D. is a candidate for Vice-President. He is an Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Missouri–Columbia. He earned his B.S. in meteorology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 1994, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Saint Louis University in 1996 and 1999, respectively. Dr. Market’s current teaching assignments include the synoptic meteorology sequence, mesoscale meteorology, and the daily forecasting practicum. His research explores issues in heavy rain and snow forecasting, including the occurrence of thundersnow, and the precipitation efficiency of mesoscale convective systems. This work has been conducted with funding from such sources as NSF, NOAA, and COMET. Outside of academia, he has worked for Midwest Weather, Inc., as a weather observer at Lambert International (KSTL) and Spirit of St. Louis (KSUS) airports (1997 – 1999), and as a radiosonde technician during the NASA South China Sea Monsoon Experiment in 1998. More recently, he held summer appointments (2002, 2003) with COMET, assisting their staff in the creation of Web-based educational modules for the Navy and others. In service to the National Weather Association, Dr. Market is currently finishing up a three-year term as a Councilor (2006 – 2008). He was a Co-editor of the National Weather Digest, served as a tape evaluator for the Broadcast Meteorology Committee Seal program and has been a Co-Chair of the Weather Analysis and Forecasting Committee. He also helped organize the First and Second Conferences on Weather Analysis and Forecasting Issues in the Central United States (December 2001, 2003), assisted with establishment of the University of Missouri–Columbia local NWA chapter, and has presented numerous papers at NWA Annual Meetings. Dr. Market’s other professional affiliations include the American Geophysical Union, Sigma Xi, Missouri Academy of Science, Association of Earth Science Editors, and the American Meteorological Society.

JEFFREY P. CRAVEN is a candidate for Treasurer. He is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Milwaukee/Sullivan WI. He has 20 years of experience in operational meteorology, including 17 years in the NWS and over 2 years in the private sector at AccuWeather, Inc. Jeff has also worked at NWS Offices in Jackson MS, Elko NV, Dodge City KS, and Lake Charles LA. In addition, he served for 6 years at the NWS Storm Prediction Center in Norman OK, where he was exposed to dozens of significant severe weather outbreaks. Jeff specializes in identifying the environments for severe thunderstorms, but enjoys all aspects of hazardous weather including winter weather and heavy rainfall. He is very interested in personal finance, and has been investing in mutual funds for his 3 children’s college expenses for 10 years. Jeff has been a devoted member of the National Weather Association nearly continuously since the mid 1990s. He has attended 8 NWA Annual Meetings, including the last 6 in a row. Mr. Craven has been highly active in NWA leadership, including Councilor 2004 – 2006, Weather Analysis and Forecast Committee 1995 – 2006 (Co-Chair 2005 – 2006), Publications Committee 2006 – 2007, Chair Publications Committee 2008 – 2010, and member of Annual Meeting Program Committee 2002. He was Editor of the Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology (EJOM), 2002 – 2006, Assistant Editor EJOM 2000 – 2002, and has also served as an Associate Editor of the National Weather Digest. Jeff was honored in 2005 as NWA Co-Member of the Year for teamwork in inaugurating the EJOM. Mr. Craven is part of the cutting edge WAS*IS (Weather and Society Integrated Studies) community. This experience led to him serving on the NWS Service Assessment Team for the May 10, 2008 Picher OK/Newton MO EF4 Tornado, with emphasis on studying societal impacts. Jeff is also active in the Walworth County WI Toastmasters International Chapter, and is the Sergeant-at-Arms for 2008 – 2009. He has leadership experience from NWS Southern Region BLAST (Building Leaders for a Strong Tomorrow) class of 2003. Jeff holds a M.S. in Meteorology from the University of OK (2001) and a B.S. in Meteorology from San Jose State University, CA (1988).

BRADFORD H. HEROLD is a candidate for Treasurer. He is currently a senior Hydro-Meteorological Technician at the National Weather Service Forecast Office (WFO) in Indianapolis, IN where he has served since April of 2008. He began his career as a Weather Observer with a private company and as a Volunteer at the National Weather Service Office (WSO) in Toledo, OH in 1989. The weather observing position was brief contract work while the volunteer position carried through early 1994. Concurrently, Brad initiated the start up of the Northwest Ohio Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), completed courses from both Mississippi State University (MSU) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Management Institute, and worked for the Toledo–Lucas County Port Authority where regular duties included billing of general aviation landing fees and maintaining records. In 1994, he joined the National Weather Service (NWS) at WFO Indianapolis as a Meteorological Technician where he was awarded a Special Service Award and co-authored a research paper. In 1996, Brad transferred to WSO South Bend, IN where he functioned as the AFOS/RTA Program Leader, trained new employees, led storm spotter training classes, and conducted area weather station inspections. Following the spin-down of the WSO in 1997, he was employed through 2004 as a Weather Observer with private industry. During this time he also took additional courses from MSU, including an internship at NBC affiliate WNDU–TV in South Bend. In 2004, Brad rejoined the NWS as a Meteorological Technician, which took him to WSO Barrow, Alaska. During his time there he served on a regional team for the Systems Integration Plan and received team Regional and National Isaac Cline Awards. Brad has been a member of the AMS since 1990 and the NWA since 1999. He has been enthusiastically involved with NWA activities: Associate Editor of the National Weather Digest, 2002 to present; Committee Member of the Awards Committee, 2004 to present; Committee Member and Webmaster on the Home Page Advisory Committee/Information Technology Committee from March 2004 to present; and, assisted with the 33rd Annual Meeting Broadcaster Workshop session. He looks forward to serving the membership of the NWA in a greater capacity.

DAVID “RUSTY” BILLINGSLEY is a candidate for Councilor. He is currently the Chief of the Science and Technology Services Division of the National Weather Service Southern Region Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, where he has served since March of 2005. He has served in numerous positions in his 25 year career with the NWS including Meteorologist Intern in Houston, TX; Agricultural Meteorologist in College Station, TX; Journeyman Forecaster in Albuquerque, NM; Science and Operations Officer in Boise, Idaho; Meteorologist in Charge in Lubbock, TX; and National Fire Weather Program Manager in Boise, Idaho. In the 80s, he also worked for International Business Machines and Compaq Computer Corporation as a Systems Engineer and Systems Analyst. Rusty was one of the early adopters of Web technology and served Web pages from WFO Boise as early as 1994. His early mock-ups of “Fast Weather” became the standard for Western Region’s Web presence and eventually contributed to the national look and feel now seen on present NWS pages. He also collaborated with the Forecast Systems Laboratory on early versions of the Graphical Forecast Editor and helped design the user interface and the concept of SmartTools. He served on the Service Assessment Team for the 2003 Southern California Fires and was named to a Blue Ribbon Committee by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior in 2004 to investigate the rising costs of fighting wildland fires. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Meteorology from Texas A&M University (1982, 1993) and a M.S. in Business Computing Science from Texas A&M University (1984). Rusty joined the NWA in 1994 and the AMS in 1980. He served as Program Co-Chairman for the NWA Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada, in 1997. He wrote a series of review articles for the National Weather Digest on Quasi-Geostrophic Theory (1996, 1997, and 1998) and works feverishly to nominate meteorologists for NWA Awards every year. He’s shared several awards including Bronze Medals for the Incident Meteorologist (IMET) program and post response in Hurricane Katrina.

KENNETH F. CAREY is a candidate for Councilor. He is currently a Principal Systems Engineer for the Oceans, Atmosphere, and Space Systems Mission Area at Noblis, a nonprofit science, technology and strategy organization that helps clients solve complex systems, process and infrastructure challenges. Ken serves as a technical lead for three Line Offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He works with federal and state clients to identify, document, validate and satisfy requirements for the next generation of environmental satellites and is supporting efforts to identify requirements for possible exploitation by commercial providers. Ken develops policy and operational implementation processes for the National Weather Service, provides program support for a Congressional-directed NOAA-Environmental Protection Agency National Air Quality Forecast Capability; and is providing business planning, program management and leading technical outreach for the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation, a NOAA, NASA and Department of Defense (DoD) partnership. Working with a team of emergency managers, NOAA scientists and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Ken helped develop a prototype coastal flooding and inundation tool that is capable of aiding decisions to protecting critical infrastructure and the public. Ken recently helped plan, organize, and coordinate a very successful NOAA/NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction and DoD-sponsored symposia celebrating “50 Years of Operational Numerical Weather Prediction”, and a highly successful Mid-Atlantic Winter Storms Conference. Prior to his work at Noblis, Ken retired from the United States Air Force after serving nearly 21 years. He served as an operational analyst, developing analyses of force structure projections and presented optimum force structure allocations to senior Department of Defense leaders and serving as the Contracting Officer Technical Representative for a $10M defense modeling and simulation contract. Ken also commanded a weather organization supporting front-line combat units stationed in Europe in the Gulf War, and supported warfighters in the Army on the Korean peninsula. He directed a 52-person training and software applications sections while a part of the Air Force Weather Agency. Ken has earned M.S. degrees in Technology Management from George Mason University (Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society), and Meteorology and Minor in Oceanography from North Carolina State University (Dean’s List), completed a Basic Meteorology Certificate from Texas A&M University (Chi Epsilon Pi Honor Society), and graduated with a B.S. in Physical Sciences from the University of Maryland. Ken currently chairs the NWA Remote Sensing Committee and AMS Board for Private Sector Meteorologists, and serves as a member of the COMET Advisory Panel. Ken has recently served as the organizing committee co-chair for the 88th AMS Annual Meeting held January 2008 in New Orleans, has been a member and chair of the AMS Local Chapter Affairs Committee, Board for Operational Government Meteorologists, Board for Higher Education and Annual Meeting Oversight Committee. Ken is a Visiting Scientist for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, an adjunct faculty member for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, and a member of the Washington Academy of Sciences. He is also especially proud to have helped develop the curricula for and hosted a NOAA-funded Weather Camp for high school teenagers, and has and is currently mentoring students in meteorology.

RICHARD W. DIXON, Ph.D. is a candidate for Councilor. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Texas State University. He obtained his BS in Physical Oceanography from Rutgers University and spent over 10 years in the Federal Civil Service at the Pacific Missile Test Center, Point Mugu, CA. While employed by the Navy he was responsible for weather and oceanographic forecasting in support of flight testing of numerous weapon systems such as TOMAHAWK, Trident, and HARPOON. In addition, he conducted research on the effect of the environment on weapons systems, and worked with other NWS and AWS forecasters to coordinate forecasts for special events such as the 1984 Summer Olympics, President Ronald Reagan’s Western White House, and the visit of Queen Elizabeth with the Royal Yacht Britannia to Southern California. His doctoral dissertation at Texas A&M studied the relationship between Heat Index and human mortality in the American south. Dixon has been at Texas State since 1995 and has published extensively on weather and climate hazards, vulnerability, and risk assessment. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in meteorology, climatology, oceanography, natural hazards, and statistics. Six students have earned their doctoral degrees under his supervision. He is currently co-chair of the NWA Specialized Operational Services Committee.

JOHN GORDON is a candidate for Councilor. He is currently Meteorologist In Charge (MIC) of the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in Louisville, KY (LMK) where he has served since January 2005. NWS LMK serves the citizens across 59 counties of central Kentucky and southern Indiana. He began his NWS career as a Meteorologist Intern in Jackson, MS in 1993. In 1994, he was promoted to Journeyman Forecaster at Springfield, MO. In 1998, John was promoted to a Senior Forecaster in Nashville, TN. In early 2002, he received a promotion to become the MIC at the brand new NWS office in Huntsville, AL. In 12 months, John led the fastest spin up of any NWS forecast office in a very politically sensitive county warning area. John spent six and a half years in the active duty U.S. Air Force and 14 years in the Air Force Reserve, retiring in April 2007. He began his military career in 1986 as an AWACS E-3A wing weather officer at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City. In 1990, John was assigned as a Team Chief at the European Forecast Unit in Germany. From 1990 to 1992, John worked many large catastrophic synoptic wind events in Western Europe, and supported NATO operations in the former Yugoslavia, as well as providing weather support to Air Force and Army units headed to Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After leaving active duty in 1992, John fulfilled his career goal, being selected to the US Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters based at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. From 1993 – 2007, John flew 1500 hours as a flight meteorologist in a WC-130 aircraft, flying both winter storms for NOAA/NWS/NCEP, and tropical cyclones for NHC. John flew several major hurricanes including Fran 1996, Bret 1999, Isadore 2002, Isabel 2003, Frances 2004, Ivan 2004, and Katrina 2005. John has been a member of the NWA since 1999. He is currently the program chair for the 33rd Annual Meeting in Louisville. John earned a degree in Meteorology from Parks College of St. Louis University (B.S. 1986) and a degree in Teaching in Geoscience from Mississippi State University (M.S. 2002). He has published operational oriented research papers in conference preprints, NOAA Technical Attachments, the National Weather Digest and the NWA Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology including A Quick Reference Guide for Operational Forecasting Papers http://www.nwas.org/ej/gordon/guide.htm.

JACQUI JERAS is a candidate for Councilor. Jacqui Jeras is a meteorologist and weather anchor for CNN Worldwide. She is based at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta. Since 1999, she has covered blizzards, floods, fires, tornado outbreaks and the record breaking 2005 hurricane season for the network. During Hurricane Katrina, she put in 84 hours on the air to keep viewers informed and helped the network earn the prestigious Peabody Award. Jacqui also covers weather and science news. Before arriving at CNN, she served as the morning and noon meteorologist for WHO–TV in Des Moines, Iowa. From 1994 – 1996, she was the weekend weather anchor at ABC affiliate WEHT–TV in Evansville, Ind. She also served as a weather anchor and senior reporter for KCAU–TV in Sioux City, Iowa, and was an associate producer for WOI–TV in Des Moines. Ms. Jeras holds seals of approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association (NWA). She has been an active member of the NWA for 10 years attending conferences. She also held a council position for the Iowa local chapter. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications from Iowa State University and received a Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University.

ANTHONY R. LUPO, Ph.D., a Candidate for Councilor, is the Department Chairman of Atmospheric Sciences in the Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Department at the University of Missouri – Columbia, and director of graduate studies for the department. He earned his BS in Meteorology from the State University of New York at Oswego in 1988, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University in 1991 and 1995, respectively. Dr. Lupo’s current teaching assignments include the dynamic meteorology sequence, and climate classes on the undergraduate and graduate classes. His research has been in the areas of large-scale atmospheric dynamics (including the behavior of blocking anticyclone events), climate dynamics, and climate change and has several peer-reviewed publications in each of these areas. He has been a member of the American Meteorological Society since 1987, and the National Weather Association since 2000. He has served the National Weather Digest as an associate editor. He is a member of the NWA Weather and Forecasting Committee, the Education Committee, and the Publications Committee. He assisted with the formation of the joint NWA and AMS chapter at the University of Missouri – Columbia, and presents papers at the Annual NWA meetings. He was a Fulbright Scholar during the summer of 2004 to Russia, studying climate change at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Additionally, he has served as an expert reviewer and/or contributing author to the last three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Reports (sponsored by the United Nations – World Meteorological Organization). His other professional associations include the American Geophysical Union, Sigma Xi, Gamma Sigma Delta, and the Missouri Academy of Science.

BERNARD MEISNER is a candidate for Councilor. He is currently Chief of Science & Training at the NWS Southern Region Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, where he has worked since 1994. Bernard has taught physics, physical science and earth & space science in the Pittsburgh public schools; meteorology at the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma; and meteorology and astronomy at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where he served as chairman of the meteorology department and helped implement a Weather Communication degree. He has worked as an intern at the Satellite Field Service Station in Honolulu, Hawaii; as a visiting scientist at the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research at the University of Hawaii; as a National Research Council resident research associate at the NWS Climate Analysis Center in Washington, DC; and as a research associate at the Institute for Storm Research in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining the National Weather Service in 1994, he worked for the USDA Forest Service as a research meteorologist at the Forest Fire Laboratory in Riverside, Calif. Bernard is an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where he majored in physics and German. He was honored with an Alumni Merit Award from the university in 2005. Bernard learned his meteorology in the tropics, earning a M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology at the University of Hawaii. He was recognized as a notable alumnus on the occasion of the meteorology department’s 50th anniversary in 2006. Bernard has been a member of the NWA since 1978. He served as vice president in 1998 and councilor in 1992 – 1993. As vice president he facilitated a major revision of the Association’s By-Laws. With Theresa Rossi, he conducted surveys of the membership in 1994 and 1999. He has served on the education committee and on one of the evaluation panels for the broadcast seal of approval. He supervised the NWA logo contest in 1994, and was a member of the program committee for the Annual Meeting in Cleveland (2006). He was honored as the NWA Member of the Year in 2000. Bernard has been a member of the American Meteorological Society since 1976, and served as the first chairman of the Society's committee on Local Chapter Affairs. He currently serves on the Board of Certified Consulting Meteorologists and the ad hoc Committee on Uncertainty in Forecasts. He is a past president of the society's Houston and Riverside–San Bernardino chapters and past vice president and current Webmaster of the joint AMS/NWA North Texas chapter. He has been active in the Society's K–12 education program—Project Atmosphere—for which he wrote the El Niño reference paper. He was elected a Fellow of the AMS in 1998. Bernard has published technical papers in Monthly Weather Review, the Journal of Climate, the Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology, the Journal of Geophysical Research, Weatherwise, The American Weather Observer, and Fire Management Notes, on topics ranging from statistical techniques for computing rainfall normals, to the classification of numerical fire simulation systems.

ERIK PYTLAK is a candidate for Councilor. Erik holds a B.S. in meteorology from Penn State University (1991) and an MPA from the University of Arizona (2001). A meteorologist for the National Weather Service since 1989, Erik worked at weather service offices in Sterling, VA, Cincinnati, OH, and Des Moines, IA, before moving to Tucson, AZ, in 1998 as a lead forecaster. He has been the Science and Operations Officer in Tucson since 2002, where he has been heavily involved in monsoon and eastern Pacific tropical cyclone forecasting research, and local hydrologic studies and modeling development. He was the co-leader of the North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) Forecast Operations Center in 2003 – 2004, and served on the NAME Science Working Group. A member of the National Weather Association since 1991, Erik has authored or co-authored over two dozen papers and preprints, presented numerous papers at NWA meetings, and served as president of the Central Iowa Chapter of the NWA in 1996 – 97. More recently, Erik has been on the NWA Broadcast Seal Evaluation Committee since 2006, and has been a reviewer for the NWA Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology.

NEZETTE RYDELL is a candidate for Councilor. Nezette is currently the Meteorologist-in-Charge at the National Weather Service Office in Brownsville, Texas where she has served since April 2007. Nezette earned a degree in Meteorology from Texas A&M University (B.S. 1976) and in Computer Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University (M.S. 2002). Nezette began her career in 1988 as a Meteorologist Intern in San Antonio, Texas where she also served as a journeyman forecaster. In 2000, she became the Senior Service Hydrologist serving South Texas offices in Austin/San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville. She worked several memorable flood events including the record floods of June 2002. In 2003, Nezette accepted the Warning Coordination Meteorologist position in Honolulu, HI supporting the forecast office, Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and national marine and aviation centers. She was a member of the WMO Typhoon Committee Working Group on Hydrology and the Hawaii State Hazard Mitigation Forum. She also worked with USAID efforts in tsunami education and preparedness. Nezette is a member of the NWA and AMS. She served on the AMS Board of School and Popular Meteorology from 1991 – 1994. She is a facilitator for the Southern Region BLAST leadership development program and has been and continues to be active in university outreach and recruitment for the National Weather Service.

WENDY SCHREIBER-ABSHIRE is a candidate for Councilor. She is currently a Senior Project Manager in UCAR’s COMET Program in Boulder, CO where she leads efforts in the areas of satellite meteorology, Air Force Weather training, hydrology, and climate. She began her career as a Student Assistant at NCAR in 1983 where she participated in several field programs and research studies, including JAWS and microburst research, convection initiation investigations, and served as a radar meteorologist during GALE, 1986. She joined the COMET Program in 1990 as a staff meteorologist and contributed to training endeavors supporting the National Weather Service Modernization throughout the 1990s. In 2003, after years spent developing training modules on a variety of topics, Wendy became the COMET Residence Course Coordinator which provided her the opportunity to interact with many of the professionals that COMET serves. She was promoted into her current position in 2006. In her role at COMET, she is the editor of the online textbook Introduction to Tropical Meteorology and through the years has authored and co-authored over 30 scientific papers including journal articles and conference preprints. She earned a degree in Meteorology from Metropolitan State College of Denver (B.S. 1985) and a degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of Wyoming (M.S. 1989). Wendy has been a member of the NWA since 1999 and has presented at several NWA Annual Meetings. She is a member of the AGU, has been an AMS member since 1982, and is currently Vice President of the Denver–Boulder Local Chapter of the AMS. She was program co-chair of the AMS 86th Annual Meeting in Atlanta (2006), program co-chair for the 2nd Annual AMS Student Conference (2003), and previously served six years on the AMS Local Chapter Affairs Committee, where she was especially proud as chair to be involved in the establishment of pre-college chapters. She was also a participant in the 2001 AMS Policy Colloquium in Washington, D.C. Wendy is currently completing her seventh year of service (fourth as chair) to the AMS Board on Outreach and Pre-college Education where she led the creation of the AMS statement on the value of K-12 earth science education. She is a member of the AMS Annual Meeting Oversight Committee and she serves on the UCAR President’s Advisory Committee on University Relations.

For the information of voters:

Previously Elected Members that will be on the NWA Council for 2009:

President: Michael D. Vescio, NOAA/NWS Forecast Office MIC, Pendleton, OR

Secretary: Faith Borden, NOAA/NWS Forecast Office WCM, Las Vegas, NV

Councilors:

For 2007 – 2009:
Janice Bunting, NWA Newsletter Contributing Editor, Fort Worth, TX
Richard J. Okulski, NOAA/NWS Forecast Office WCM, Memphis, TN
Dr. Scott M. Rochette, Department of Earth Sciences, SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY
Bruce G. Thomas, Midland Radio Inc., Chief Meteorologist, Kansas City, MO

For 2008 – 2010:
Randy Graham, NOAA/NWS Forecast Office SOO, Salt Lake City, UT
Jill F. Hasling CCM, Weather Research Center Inc., Houston, TX
Troy Kimmel, KVET/KASE/KFMK Chief Meteorologist & Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and Environment, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Jeff Waldstreicher, NOAA/NWS Eastern Region SSD, Bohemia, NY

Immediate Past-President: Dr. John R. Scala, Consultant and WGAL–TV Meteorologist, Lancaster, PA

Current 2008 NWA Members — Renew your membership for 2009 and Vote online NOW. There is also a member-get-a-member campaign this year. Reduce your renewal fees by recruiting a new member. Recruit three and your renewal will be free. Those new members will be able to vote in next year's election not this one.

Prospective new members wishing to vote in this election, may join for the Fall Special and a ballot will be mailed to you.

Contact the NWA office at 919-845-1546 or exdir@nwas.org for any questions regarding the information on this page.