National Weather Service holds symposium at Ball State University

What does making it national in the weather service take? This past weekend, Ball State students were allowed to do that right in Pruis Hall. The Central Indiana Severe Weather Symposium gave students a chance to learn from the professionals, interact with them, and gain the experience they need to grow their future.

“It gives them the exposure,” says senior meteorologist Mike Ryan from the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.

“Not only to interact with people,” says Ryan, “There are professional meteorologists, there are people in emergency management, there are people in the media.”

The community learned what it’s like to be a meteorologist and how important it is to the rest of the community.

“Being there when severe weather hits,” says Ryan, “like what happened back in March when we had those tornados and having people take shelter in time.”

Not only did the symposium help educate the public on meteorology, but it also gave meteorology students a chance to present their knowledge and present it to the community.

“I’m someone who wants to go into operational meteorology.” says senior meteorologist Tyler Miller.

“I want to be able to do forecasts.” says Miller, “It’s a big thing here; it’s a huge opportunity for Ball State students.”

No matter the weather, plenty of students are happy to share their passion for meteorology.

Contact Wyatt Maher with comments at wyatt.maher@bsu.edu.