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| Dr. Renee McPherson |
Acting Director
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
Renee McPherson received her B.S. degree in both
Meteorology and Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1987.
From 1987 to 1991, she worked on her M.S. in Meteorology at the University
of Oklahoma (OU), taking time out to create a lab for the junior-level atmospheric
dynamics course and to teach both Introduction to Meteorology (to 120 students)
and Atmospheric Dynamics I. In addition, she initiated the Student Affairs
Committee in the School of Meteorology, which still exists today as a bridge
between meteorology students and faculty. Recently, Renee worked part-time
on her Ph.D. in Meteorology at OU, and completed the degree in 2003.
McPherson began her career in 1992 at the Oklahoma
Climatological Survey (OCS) where she and Director Ken Crawford initiated
the EARTHSTORM Project. EARTHSTORM was a National Science Foundation-funded
project designed to provide data, education, and materials to K-12 Oklahoma
teachers who desired to use near-real-time Oklahoma Mesonet data in their
classroom. She became Assistant Director of OCS in 1995 and Associate Director
in 2001. In 1999, McPherson finished two three-year terms as a member of
the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) Board on School and Popular Meteorological
and Oceanographic Education. She served a term as President
of the Norman Chapter of the AMS and National Weather Association (NWA) in
1998-99. She currently serves as a member of the OU school of Meteorology's
Undergraduate Studies Committee, the Federal Highway Administration's Clarus
Initiative Coordinating Committee, and the Diversity Council for the Center
for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere.
"I rarely have two
days that are the same at work, which is just how I like it. The only constants
I seem to have are that I answer 10-20 email messages each day and I work
on my computer about one-third of my day. Other than that, I spend
time doing all of the following activities: attend or
lead meetings, edit OCS materials, tour visiting scientists around OCS, supervise
students and full-time employees, help OCS run more smoothly, help to direct
OCS's vision for the future, teach at workshops, visit with legislators
at the State Capitol, take care of OCS administrative tasks, write grants,
create case studies, and many other assorted tasks."
Renee
enjoys spending time with her husband, Billy, playing with her dog, Culzean
(named after a castle in Scotland), and hanging out with friends. She is
an amateur photographer and artist, although she does not find enough time
for the later anymore. She helps out with the music at her church, investigates
her family genealogy, and "chases" storms.
Renee visited Scotland (the "homeland") in 1996 and cannot wait
until she and Billy can get back to see more. |
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