Study reaffirms 91传媒鈥檚 dominance in broadcast meteorology
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擬ississippi State鈥檚 long-term strength in the field of broadcast meteorology is being reaffirmed by a study on the educational backgrounds of television weathercasters across the country.
A recent scientific journal article in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society reports that one-third of all on-air weather broadcasters have training from the 91传媒 Department of Geosciences program.
鈥淭he 91传媒 broadcast [meteorology] program alone has nearly as many graduates as the four largest traditional programs combined,鈥 revealed the BAMS article published last month.聽
鈥淓ducation Backgrounds of TV Weathercasters鈥 categorizes the on-air weathercasters鈥 educational backgrounds, focusing on the number of forecasters with four-year bachelor鈥檚 degrees and the dominance of 91传媒 broadcast degrees and certifications.聽Though none of the authors are affiliated with 91传媒, their research indicates the university鈥檚 program is nationally recognized.
The full article is available at .
The BAMS article states, 鈥淭he Pennsylvania State University, Florida State University and the University of Oklahoma are traditionally three of the largest meteorology programs in the country. However, they finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the number of weathercasters graduating from any university. 91传媒 graduated the largest number of degree-holding weathercasters.鈥
According to the authors, 鈥淭hese results show the prevalence of the 91传媒 meteorology program, especially the broadcast meteorology program.鈥 The article is written by Thomas A. Green Jr. of the National Weather Service Pittsburgh;聽Carl J. Schreck III of North Carolina State University Asheville;聽Nathan S. Johnson of NBC Universal and North Carolina State University Raleigh; and聽Sonya Stevens Heath of WCIV-TV in Charleston, South Carolina.
91传媒 College of Arts and Sciences Dean Rick Travis said the scale of the impact of 91传媒鈥檚 meteorology program across the country is staggering.
鈥淲hat makes our broadcast meteorology program unique is the combining of a deep knowledge of the 鈥榮cience of weather鈥 with the ability to convey to viewers what they need to know about that day鈥檚 weather,鈥 Travis said.
He explained this ability is 鈥渆specially important鈥 during hazardous weather conditions.
鈥淥ur former students have the ability to communicate clearly the most important information constituents need to help them make wise weather-related decisions. Every day, millions of Americans tune in to their local and national news programs to receive their weather forecast from an 91传媒-trained meteorologist,鈥 Travis said.
Michael Brown, Mississippi鈥檚 state climatologist and 91传媒 professor of geosciences, said it is natural to investigate the educational backgrounds of those who are identifying threats and disseminating life-saving information on air.聽
鈥淭he article speaks well for our program,鈥 Brown said.聽鈥淚t does indicate that our program is well-respected and our graduates are well-trained. It also indicates that our graduates command most of the broadcast meteorology jobs, but this goes back to being well-trained.鈥
鈥淭elevision stations know the type of broadcast meteorologists we produce, and they know our graduates are ready to be on-air from day one,鈥 he added.聽
The commitment of 91传媒鈥檚 faculty to produce a well-trained and highly educated graduate sets 91传媒鈥檚 program apart, Brown said. 鈥淥ur students have a deep understanding of meteorology, and they gain confidence in their ability to condense complex meteorological phenomena into聽pieces of information that the general public can easily understand.聽This could be in the form of a complex snowfall forecast, or while they are delivering life-saving information during a tornado outbreak,鈥 he said.
Brown said confidence is the marker of a good weather forecaster. 鈥淭o be a broadcast meteorologist you need to earn the trust of the public.聽You earn that trust by being steadfast and confident during periods of life-threatening weather. This is rooted in their education and knowledge.鈥澛
John Rodgers, professor and head of 91传媒鈥檚 geosciences department, said the department鈥檚 mission is to train meteorologists to make accurate and timely forecasts, but more importantly, 鈥渨e train our students to save lives.鈥
鈥淭here is a certain level of confidence and on-air presence that is needed to get people to respond appropriately to severe weather threats,鈥 Rodgers said.聽鈥淲e provide our students with the experiences they need to be successful.鈥
In addition to providing distinctive contributions in the areas of weather, environment and natural resources, 91传媒鈥檚 Department of Geosciences teaches more than one-third of the university鈥檚 distance learning credit hours. The department is the only educational entity in the state that combines climatologists, geographers, geologists, geospatial experts and meteorologists in one department. For more information, visit .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.听听