Big news! I got a permanent job! For the last year, I’ve been working as a CIMMS postdoctoral researcher supporting NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory. Postdocs are weird, and fun, but non-permanent and therefore insecure.

This morning, I accepted an offer to join the National Severe Storms Lab as a federal meteorologist.

I’ll be transitioning to my new position next month. I can’t believe its real!

As silly and cliche as it sounds, this is honestly a dream come true. I am guilty of forgetting from time to time how amazing this place is, and that this building I’ve been working in for nearly 5 years houses some of the most brilliant and accomplished scientists in my fields. In reality, I’m probably a bit too jaded for my own good. But really, when I take a step back and try to look at this subjectively – wow! I did it. I came from a tiny little town in West Virginia where Physics wasn’t even a class that was offered most years, went on to small state school to chase this little dream of being a forecaster, found out what research was, somehow got accepted to one of the most prestigious graduate programs in the country, succeeded (maybe survived is a better word) in getting a very rapid direct track Ph.D., and now – just like that – I’m a ‘real’ scientist taking a job I could have literally only dreamed about just 4 years ago. I’ve found this news hard to convince myself to celebrate, but putting it down in these terms helps. It is a dream come true, just a dream I kinda forgot I had until recently.

The other somewhat funny thing about this experience has been that is feels like its been pre-determined a bit. I’m sure hindsight is clearer than any, but when I look back on my journey, even though I thought at times I would go another direction here or there, NOAA has always been pulling at me.

In 2012, I was awarded the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship. This program legitimately changed my life. The stipend that came with the program made it possible for me to only work a 10-hr/week work study position and focus on my coursework instead of taking a part-time job to make ends meet. In addition to that burden being lifted for my final two years of undergrad, the program also includes a paid internship at a NOAA office during the summer between junior and senior year. I spent my summer at the Cheyenne, WY NWS office working on a project about the impact of marginal-to-warm soil temperatures on snow accumulation. I learned a lot in those 10 weeks: I found out operational forecasting was absolutely NOT my cup of tea, I absolutely love the research process, and I don’t care at all about soil characteristics (funny enough my Ph.D. candidacy exam focused on soil moisture… brutal).

Without the Hollings program, I probably wouldn’t have pursued (or gotten into) graduate school. I also wouldn’t have learned so much about NOAA, how it works, and how many fascinating careers there are in public service that will let me actually do research while serving society. I noticed all of those things at one time or another, but it was not until quite recently that I understood how much they had really guided my journey over the years.

All in all – it seems obvious that I would end up working in NOAA research, but I didn’t know that until now. I wouldn’t have made it here without the support of so many people and the faith that a lot of people put in me. I am so excited to start this chapter of my career and do my part in serving the public. I’m going to try a little harder to remember to see the forest instead of the trees and celebrate how amazing this really is everyday.