As students head back to the classroom across the country, we here at WeatherNation want to help kids get excited about school and their future careers. With so many options to choose from, it can be overwhelming for students to narrow down their career path, but we’re here to help! We spoke with several industry experts about their careers and their advice for students hoping to join the exciting field of meteorology. 

Research Meteorologist

If spending time in a lab, pouring over the latest results of an experiment, analyzing complex data, and drawing conclusions that help better the field of meteorology sounds exciting, then a career in research meteorology might be the path for you!  

Jake Sorber has spent the last few years working with the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) working on various projects including hail, wind, and tornado damage. Sorber graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's and master's in meteorology and encourages all future meteorologists to remain curious.  

Private Sector Meteorologist 

Private sector meteorologists can range in duties from working in the field of energy, supply chain analysis, farming, insurance, and more! With so many options to choose from, the private sector gives meteorologists (with multiple interests) the chance to explore how weather impacts industries across the spectrum. 

James Waller has spent more than 12 years in the reinsurance industry, while collecting valuable experience working with the National Building Code of Canada to define tornado-prone areas. He’s consulted on snow and wind loads for structures while helping the Climate Adaption Group at Environment Canada. Waller encourages future meteorologists to diversify their skillsets to make them more marketable in their field. 

Academic Meteorologist

Students need teachers, but there’s more than just lecturing in the future for potential academic meteorologists. Many professors of meteorology are expected to conduct research along with their teaching duties, and that’s a point Janine Baijnath-Rodino hopes to remind anyone that’s pursuing a career in academia. 

“You should really be excited and want to do research,” the now Director of Meteorology at UCLA explains. “Because the journey can sometimes be long and tedious. You have to learn to be independent and become an independent thinker.”  

National Weather Service Meteorologist

With 122 National Weather Service Offices across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Guam, the National Weather Service provides essential forecasts for various industries and regular citizens alike. Becoming an NWS Meteorologist can be a lifelong dream for many weather aficionados, but for NWS Fort Worth Meteorologist Madi Gordon, it wasn’t her first choice. 

Gordon was originally attending Texas A&M with a different major, but once Hurricane Harvey hit, she knew she had found her passion. While she was no stranger to meteorology, as her mother is a professional storm chaser, Harvey sparked a new found love of weather, and for the service the career path demands as well. 

Incident Meteorologist

Incident Meteorologists, or iMets for short, provide on-the-ground support to firefighters battling wildfires. These crucial members of the team help give decision makers the information they need to better combat blazes as they tear through our nation’s wildlands.

While iMets can also be deployed to help with other natural disasters, Matt Jeglum knew just how useful incident meteorologists were in the field. Jeglum worked as a wildfire firefighter before becoming a meteorologist himself. That intimate knowledge of how it feels on the front lines helps him better connect his forecast to the brave men and women working to control the blaze. 

Space Weather Meteorologist

While space may seem like the final frontier, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center works to shed light on the phenomenon occurring all around our planet. Space Weather Meteorologists are the crews behind the scenes that help keep our nation’s power grids, satellites, and GPS systems from going haywire during geomagnetic events.  

Service Coordinator with the SWPC, Shawn Dahl began his career in the U.S. Air Force before transitioning to the National Weather Service. Dahl worked in Hawaii on the upper-air program and conducted education and outreach program. Now, Dahl hopes to spark interest and teach everyday citizens how influential space weather can be. 

Aviation Meteorologist

A childhood fascination turned into a dream career path for Nathan Polderman, the Senior Manager of Meteorology for United Airlines. Polderman grew up along the Great Lakes, where the weather phenomena were aplenty to spark an interest in the field of meteorology. Polderman would go on to combine his love of weather, and his love of planes and turn it into a successful career as an aviation meteorologist.

It takes a lot to oversee the meteorology department for a major airline. In an industry that requires precision and perfect timing, Polderman encourages future meteorologists to follow in his footsteps. "We are always flying somewhere...in some kind of weather, or trying to move around some kind of weather, so you'll never be bored in this job," Polderman said.