NSSL videographer James Murnan was just awarded a 2011 INDUS Excellence Award.  Murnan was one of five recipients in the entire company of 500 employees.  INDUS holds the federal Information Technology contract at NSSL.

Murnan has made significant contributions to present the NOAA mission through the NOAA Weather Partners Office of Communications and External Affairs, social networking sites and the Internet.

Murnan has written scripts, shot video, produced and created more than 30 videos over the past few years on topics ranging from phased array radar technology to the Coastal and Inland Flooding Observation and Warning project (CI-FLOW). In addition he has produced more than 11 podcasts and video b-roll for reporters.

In response to the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak in the south, Murnan quickly recorded and edited interviews with the director of the Storm Prediction Center and an NSSL research meteorologist.  The video was posted the following day on a NOAA.gov tornado outbreak summary page, NSSL’s Facebook page and the NOAA Weather Partners YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/user/NOAAWP.

His latest big project was another video for the “That Weather Show” series titled “The Dual-Polarization Zone.”  This video explains the weather radar scanning technology being added to NEXRAD radars using spoofs of popular commercials.  “The Dual-Polarization Zone” has been viewed almost 7,000 times.

Murnan’s ingenuity and creativity helps present NOAA’s critical mission to the public in understandable terms.