For our Season 3 opener, we begin with a very special extended episode in an interview with three women in the United States Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, MS - known to most as the Hurricane Hunters.

Lt Col Kait McLaughlin was the first female chief aerial reconnaissance weather officer for the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. She’s currently the 403rd Operations Group Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer (or, ARWO) Standards and Evaluations Officer.

Capt. Sarah Olsen is an Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer in the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. She serves as a flight meteorologist, mission director, and National Hurricane Center liaison for aerial weather reconnaissance missions.

Capt. Amaryllis Cotto is currently a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Houston/Galveston, and a meteorologist for the U.S. Air Force Reserves, as part of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.

Mentions during show: United States Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron - https://www.403wg.afrc.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/192529/

EPISODE SPONSOR This episode is sponsored by Ventusky, a weather mapping application combining models and real-time radar and satellite data globally to provide useful visuals for a variety of weather-related needs. For more information, check out ventusky.com.

The Girls Who Chase Podcast is recorded and edited by Jen Walton. “Badlands” - our music - is by Lori Bailey and Inês Lobo. Find out all about us and more at www.girlswhochase.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky at the handle girlswhochase. See our videos & podcast media on YouTube under Girls Who Chase Storms - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dosZVkS3PXHIO8XpjVt1g. Please support our important work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/girlswhochase

GWC closes Season 2 with a very special episode. We had the opportunity to speak with three leaders who are all making significant contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the weather space - and they’re tackling it from very different directions.

Dr. Stella Kafka is the Chief Executive of the American Meteorological Society.

Dr. Melissa Burt is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the Department of Atmospheric Science and College of Engineering at Colorado State University. She is also the Vice President for the non-profit 501(c)3 organization, the Earth Science Women’s Network, and a co-founder of Science Moms, a non-partisan group of climate scientists and mothers working to give our children the planet they deserve.

Dr. Kim Klockow-McClain is a Senior Social Scientist with the National Weather Service, and serves as the National Center for Environmental Prediction Coordinator for Social Science Applications.

References during show: American Meteorological Society: https://www.ametsoc.org/ AMS Annual Meeting 2024: https://annual.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/2024/ Clear Skies Ahead podcast: https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/education-careers/careers/career-guides-tools/all-about-careers-in-meteorology/clear-skies-ahead-podcast/

The Girls Who Chase Podcast is recorded and edited by Jen Walton. “Badlands” - our music - is by Lori Bailey and Inês Lobo.

“Motivation Orchestra” for Spring Training promo is licensed via Envato. Find out all about us and more at www.girlswhochase.com. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @girlswhochase. See our videos & podcast media on YouTube under Girls Who Chase Storms - youtube.com/girlswhochase Please support our important work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/girlswhochase

Karen Kosiba has always been fascinated by the world around her.  As a child she collected caterpillars, built model bridges, took lots of photos, and stayed up late watching lightning.  When she started college, she considered careers in architecture, patent law, and veterinary medicine, but ultimately decided that observational studies of severe weather (somehow) combined all of her interests. Karen now the Managing Director of the F.A.R.M. (Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets) Facility and is an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Illinois. Her research mainly focuses on the kinematics and dynamics of severe convective storms, characterizing the low-level wind structure in tornadoes, and understanding the boundary layer winds and small-scale structures in landfalling hurricanes. Key to her research is executing field projects to collect data that can be analyzed to better understand and predict these hazardous weather events.  A strong believer in experiencing weather from the inside of a mobile weather radar, she has participated as a radar operator, project scientist, and project leader in a multitude of field projects. She has collected data in over 100 tornadoes and has deployed radars in nine hurricanes. Additionally, she is passionate about science education, regularly participating in outreach activities at schools, museums, and festivals, and in media interviews.  She has a B.S. and an M.S. in Physics, an M.A.T in Teacher Education, and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science.

A quick disclaimer about this interview, which was originally recorded in November 2022 –  while the project references are good, the timing on the projects is going to sound a bit off. Please take note of this when dates are referenced in the discussion. 

The Girls Who Chase Podcast is recorded and edited by Jen Walton. “Badlands” - our music - is by Lori Bailey and Inês Lobo. 

“Motivation Orchestra” for Spring Training promo is licensed via Envato.

Find out all about us and more at www.girlswhochase.com.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @girlswhochase.

See our videos & podcast media on YouTube under Girls Who Chase Storms - youtube.com/girlswhochase

Please support our important work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/girlswhochase