Bridging Operational Meteorology and Academia through Experiential Education The Storm Prediction Center in the University of Oklahoma Classroom ARIEL E. COHEN, RICHARD L. THOMPSON, STEVEN M. CAVALLO, ROGER EDWARDS, STEVEN J. WEISS, JOHN A. HART, ISRAEL L. JIRAK, WILLIAM F. BUNTING, JARET W. ROGERS, STEVEN F. PILTZ, ALAN E. GERARD, ANDREW D. MOORE, DANIEL J. CORNISH, ALEXANDER C. BOOTHE, AND JOEL B. COHEN RESEARCH TO OPERATIONS AND THE 2014; Wolff et al. 2016). Alternatively, effective com- NATIONAL WEATHER CENTER. The chal- munication between research and operational com- lenge of infusing research findings and theoretical munities is critical for creating scientifically relevant principles into operational practice is no simple feat. work, by which mutual missions are satisfied through The phrase “valley of death” (NRC 2001) has been collaboration. Strong relationships between research linked to the repeated failure of meteorological re- and operations entities can be considered a “bridge” to search to become instilled within the practitioner’s accomplish successful research-to-operations (R2O) toolbox. It has been used to describe the gap between initiatives, lessening the likelihood of research results the academic and research communities in meteorol- falling into the valley of death. ogy, and refers to cases where applied research fails to As an integral member of the weather enterprise, become implemented operationally (e.g., Hossain et al. academia not only lays the foundation for learning within the university classroom, but also plays a key role in fostering research development. As such, AFFILIATIONS: A. COHEN*—NOAA/NWS/NCEP/Storm under the broader umbrella of academia, the uni- Prediction Center, and School of Meteorology, University of versity classroom can be considered as an incubator Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma; THOMPSON, EDWARDS, WEISS, HART, for R2O. Specifically, the classroom setting provides JIRAK, BUNTING, AND ROGERS*—NOAA/NWS/NCEP/Storm Prediction knowledge, guidance, and practice for students to Center, Norman, Oklahoma; CAVALLO, MOORE*, CORNISH, AND successfully 1) conduct operationally relevant re- BOOTHE*—School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, search as a part of their academic and eventual pro- Oklahoma; PILTZ—NOAA/NWS/Weather Forecast Office, Tulsa, fessional careers, and 2) learn ways of incorporating Oklahoma; GERARD—NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory, such research into the practice of meteorology. This Norman, Oklahoma; J. COHEN—NiSource, Inc., Columbus, Ohio * CURRENT AFFILIATIONS: A. COHEN—NOAA/NWS/Weather incubator concept is more likely to succeed when Forecast Office, Topeka, Kansas; ROGERS—NOAA/NWS/Weather academics and practitioners work together to offer Forecast Office, Phoenix, Arizona; MOORE—NOAA/NWS/ tools and resources to the next generation of meteo- Weather Forecast Office, Grand Forks, North Dakota; BOOTHE— rologists that can be applied in their future profes- NOAA/NWS/Weather Forecast Office, Las Vegas, Nevada sions. This article documents such efforts between CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Ariel Cohen, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) of the National [email protected] Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) DOI:10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0307.1 National Weather Service (NWS), and the University ©2018 American Meteorological Society of Oklahoma (OU) School of Meteorology (SoM). For information regarding reuse of this content and general The National Weather Center (NWC; Fig. 1) is copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy. located on the south campus of OU in Norman, Oklahoma. In addition to housing the SoM, it is AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY FEBRUARY 2018 | 269 of videos recorded from the spring semester 2017 METR 5403/4403 class available online (at www.spc .noaa.gov/exper/spcousom/), along with other related educational resources. COURSE DEVELOPMENT AND FORMAT. “Applications of Meteorological Theory to Severe- Thunderstorm Forecasting” is a three-semester-hour course offered to OU SoM graduate students and undergraduate juniors and seniors. This course inter- weaves theoretical concepts with real-world situations in operational severe weather forecasting. Students learn from highly experienced meteorologists at the FIG. 1. Photo of the NWC, a facility on the south campus of OU that houses many agencies of the weather enter- SPC, NSSL, and other offices in the NWS who have prise. (Image provided by R. Edwards.) also performed diverse research while strengthening relationships between the OU SoM and the SPC. Each home to numerous partners of the weather enterprise, year since its inception, the student population has been including the SPC, the Norman NWS Forecast Of- approximately half undergraduate and half graduate. fice, the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), The roots of METR 5403/4403 extend to the and the NWS Warning Decision Training Division 2014/15 school year, when SPC forecaster Ariel Cohen (WDTD), along with other OU meteorological enti- and OU faculty member Steven Cavallo conceived ties, including the SoM and the Center for Analysis and developed the course. That process was concur- and Prediction of Storms. The collocation of these rent with SPC lead forecaster Richard Thompson’s agencies inherently supports an R2O framework, and presentations of “Meteorology of Tornado Fore- it helps to break down barriers otherwise present in casting,” also known by its Twitter alias “TorCast.” collaborations over physical distance. Since its open- TorCast is composed of nine video-recorded lectures ing in 2006, the NWC has served as a fertile ground on the analysis and forecast process and related for intra- and interdisciplinary projects resulting physical underpinnings that SPC meteorologists from regular contact among a diversity of occupants. consider in forecasting severe weather. Thompson Exemplifying within-NWC collaborative efforts, joined Cohen and Cavallo as an official coinstructor the SPC and the OU SoM have partnered to offer an for spring semesters 2016 and 2017. OU course entitled, “Applications of Meteorological A major motivation for the development of this Theory to Severe-Thunderstorm Forecasting” (METR course was the instructors’ recognition of, and desire 5403/4403). This course has been conducted three to mitigate, the apparent disconnect between the consecutive years (2015–17) during each spring se- academic and research community of meteorology mester with a total enrollment of 56 students. The and the operational community. This course seemed section “Course development and format” outlines to be an opportunity to encourage unification of a some of the course objectives, and how it uniquely segment of the meteorological community, with the connects the research and operational communities. hopes of bridging the corresponding valley of death. The section “Pedagogical practices and experiential Two primary course objectives characterize learning education” provides an overview of some of the expectations for METR 5403/4403: 1) students are pedagogical practices that instructors have used to expected to integrate multiple observational datasets, reinforce the linkages between academic knowledge numerical weather prediction output, conceptual and operational practice. Selected feedback from models of convection, research results, and forecast- anonymous course evaluations is provided in the ing experience in formulating prognostic statements section “Final examination and student feedback.” of the subsequent state of the severe thunderstorm The last section reviews the course’s framework threat both independently and collaboratively; and and generalizes potential operational–academia 2) students are expected to demonstrate an under- partnerships. The appendix provides information standing of the irreducible uncertainty inherent to regarding the “Severe Thunderstorm Forecasting severe thunderstorm forecasting, both quantita- Video Lecture Series,” which presents many dozens tively through the expression of probabilistic severe 270 | FEBRUARY 2018 FIG. 2. Photograph of many of the students who have taken METR 5403/4403 from 2015 through 2017 and pro- fessional meteorologists who have instructed the course, along with other individuals involved in the recording, production, and dissemination of course- related videos. This image represents the large diver- sity in academic and profes- sional experience within the NWC that has fostered a strong R2O linkage. Front row (left to right): Ariel Co- hen (now NWS Topeka, KS Science and Operations Of- ficer; previously adjunct as- sistant professor in the OU School of Meteorology and SPC Mesoscale assistant/ Fire Weather forecaster), Elizabeth DiGangi (student), Makenzie Krocak (student), Dylan Reif (student), Zachary Wienhoff (student), Ryan Bunker (student), and Richard Thompson (SPC lead forecaster). Middle row (left to right): Benjamin Holcomb (information technology specialist in the OU School of Meteorology), Keli Pirtle (NOAA Communications Pub- lic Affairs specialist), Jared Guyer (SPC lead forecaster), Sarah Borg (student), Daniel Cornish (student), Austin Dixon (student), Elisa Murillo (student), Kelsey Britt (student), and Steven Weiss (chief of the SPC Science Sup- port Branch). Back rows (left to right): Alan Gerard (deputy chief of the Warning Research and Development Division of NSSL), John Hart (SPC lead forecaster), William Bunting (chief of the SPC Operations Branch), Andrew Dean (SPC Techniques Development meteorologist), Steven Cavallo (associate professor