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Paul Knight
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Paul Knight is a
founding member of the Penn State Weather
Communications Group. He along with Fred
Gadomski designed the format and content of
Weather World in 1983 and have been the
hosts and producers of the show since then.
Paul began his academic career at New York
University looking for a dual degree in
meteorology and oceanography, but came to
Penn State in 1973 and has never left. He
earned his BS and MS in meteorology in the
mid 1970's, worked for a few years at AccuWeather
and then returned to Penn State in 1983. In
1986, he, Fred and Lee began composing the
daily weather page for the New York Times
(which ended in 2010). In 1994, Paul
was named the Pennsylvania State
Climatologist and was elected as the
president of the American Association of
State Climatologists from 2006-2008. He has
held the AMS TV Seal of Approval since 1980
and was recently awarded the Certified
Broadcast Meteorologist seal from the AMS.
Paul also holds the NWA TV Seal and is a
Certified Consulting Meteorologist. In 2000,
Paul was made manager of the Penn State
Weather Communications Group. He and Fred
received the Broadcaster of the Year Award
from the AMS and The Pennsylvania Radio and
Television Broadcasters Association in 2003.
Paul was inducted into the Meteorologists Hall of Fame
on Ground Hog Day 2010.
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Fred Gadomski
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Fred Gadomski is originally from New
Bedford, Massachusetts and has been with
Weather World since 1980. He has a
bachelors degree from Lowell University
and a master's degree from Penn State
University in the field of meteorology.
For years, he was a senior forecaster
for the New York Times. He is currently
an instructor of meteorology at Penn
State.
Fred is a founding member
of The Weather Communications Group and has
been on the American Meteorological
Society's Board of Broadcasting. He has made
appearances on such television shows as Good
Morning America, The Today Show, and
Newton's Apple. Fred also enjoys politics.
Fred was inducted into the Meteorologists Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Jon Nese
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Jon
Nese is a native of Steubenville, Ohio, and
was a regular on Weather World from 1989 to
1998. During that time, he was a faculty
member at the
Beaver,
University Park,
and
Hazleton
Campuses, where he taught meteorology, earth
sciences, and mathematics courses. From 1998
to 2002, he was chief meteorologist at the
historic
Franklin Institute Science Museum in
Philadelphia. From 2002 to 2005, he was an
on-air storm analyst at
The Weather
Channel. Jon has
now joined the faculty of the Department of
Meteorology at Penn State.
Jon has authored two
books:
The Philadelphia Area Weather Book (with
Philadelphia television meteorologist and
PSU alum Glenn Schwartz), and a
college-level introductory textbook
A World of Weather: Fundamentals of
Meteorology (with
Penn State meteorologist Lee Grenci), now in
its sixth edition. Jon produces the very
popular WXYZ (weatherwise) segment on
Weather World each Wednesday. In his spare
time, Jon enjoys attending Penn State
sporting events and coaching youth
basketball and soccer.
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Marisa Ferger
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Hurricane Gloria was the
event that turned Marisa Ferger into an
official "weather weenie". The storm forced
her hometown of Bayville, NY to be evacuated
and sparked her interest in meteorology.
After graduating from the University of
Oklahoma, Marisa worked as an on-air
meteorologist and reporter at WPBN in
Traverse City, MI and KOKH in Oklahoma City.
Before joining the Weather Communications
Group in July of 2002, Marisa worked in
television and radio in State College, PA.
Marisa enjoys spending
time with her husband Paul (who is also a
meteorologist) and sons Nolan and Shane,
playing with her dogs, hiking, cooking, and
reading.
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Bill Syrett
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Bill Syrett was born in
Bristol, CT and has been fascinated by
weather that most people consider "bad"
since he was 5 years old. He was pleased and
surprised to find lots of other "weather
weenies" when he came to Penn State in 1980.
He received a B.S. and M.S. in Meteorology
and was then hired by Penn State as a
research assistant, again in meteorology. In
1995 he began his tenure as the manager of
Penn State's University Park weather
observatory. He teaches several meteorology
courses and enjoys contact with his students
and all others with an interest in the
weather. He is married and has two
teenagers, with only his son showing the
slightest interest in the weather! He's been
a forecaster on Weather World since 2001. |
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Steve Seman
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Steve Seman joined the Weather World team in
May of 2003, making his first appearance the
day before he graduated from Penn State with
a Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology.
In addition to his appearances on Weather
World, Steve teaches several online
meteorology courses in
Penn State's Certificate of Achievement in
Weather Forecasting
program.
Steve's main meteorological interests are
synoptic and mesoscale forecasting, and of
course, weather communications. During his
college years, he interned at WLIO NBC 35 in
Lima, Ohio and WTVG 13 ABC in Toledo, Ohio.
He was fortunate enough to appear on-air
several times in Lima, doing short weather
segments during NBC's weekend Today.
Growing up in Findlay, Ohio, Steve developed
an intense interest in severe thunderstorms,
as they are a great demonstration of
nature's awesome power. When he's not
looking at the sky, or his computer, Steve
loves watching Cincinnati Reds baseball,
Penn State football, and playing sports. He
also enjoys music and relaxing with friends
and family. Steve would like to thank
everyone who tunes in to Weather World every
night. Listen up Weather Nation, Some of his
colleagues think he is a dead-ringer as the
weatherman version of Stephen Colbert!
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Ray Ban
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Raymond J. Ban is retired Executive Vice President of Programming and Meteorology
at The Weather Channel, Inc. He is currently Consultant, Weather Industry and
Government Partnerships and is responsible for growing TWC relationships with the
atmospheric science community across the entire weather and climate enterprise.
In addition, he is a guest lecturer in the Meteorology Department at
Penn State University where he teaches a month per semester in the Weather Communications Program.
Ray has been with The Weather Channel for over 28 years and is considered one of
the founders of TWC having served as an On-Camera Meteorologist at the launch of
the network.
In the industry, Ray has been an active member of the AMS for more than 35 years
and holds both the Television and Radio Seals of Approval from the Society.
Previously Ray was the Commissioner on Professional Affairs for the AMS for six years,
served as Councilor for three years and is now serving on the Steering Committee
of the AMS Commission on The Weather and Climate Enterprise. He is an Alumni Fellow of
Penn State University, the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association,
a Centennial Fellow of Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, has served on
the Board of Atmospheric Science and Climate of the National Academy of Sciences, and has
also served as President of the Alumni Board of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State.
Currently, among other committee positions, he is Chair of the NOAA Science Advisory Board and sits
on the Board of Directors of the National Environmental Education Foundation.
Prior to joining TWC in 1982, Ray worked as an operational weather forecaster at Accu-Weather, Inc.,
from 1973 to 1982. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in meteorology.
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Jeff Warner
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Jeff joined the Weather
World team in May, 2001. Prior to becoming
an on-air meteorologist, Jeff worked for the
Weather Communications Group as a daily
forecaster for The New York Times and was an
instructor of several meteorology courses.
Jeff currently is the undergraduate advisor for the E&MS College and
works with incoming students to help them get acquainted with
college life.
He received a bachelor of science degree in
meteorology from Penn State in 1996,
followed by a master of science degree in
meteorology from PSU in 1999. Jeff has
always been fascinated by the weather, but
became most intensely interested following
the May 31, 1985 tornado outbreak in
Pennsylvania. He can still remember looking
out his window that night in suburban
Pittsburgh and being fascinated by the vivid
lightning to his north.
Jeff is an avid sports
fan, with special interest for any
Pittsburgh or Nittany Lion teams. He also
works part-time in the sports information
office as a game-day assistant, primarily
handling statistical duties for men's and
women's basketball along with men's and
women's volleyball. Jeff also works football
game-days in the media section of the press
box at Beaver Stadium. Other interests
include coin collecting and Frank Sinatra
music.
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Jase Bernhardt
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(Graduate Student)
Hailing from the frozen tundra of
Upstate New York, Jase Bernhardt grew up a stereotypical “weather weenie,”
turning away from the Weather Channel only to run outside and check the latest
snowfall amounts or other observations. Countless East Coast Winter Storms were
what really piqued Jase’s interest in weather, although he has found them somewhat
less exciting since acquiring his car and driver’s license. In addition to
snowstorms, Jase enjoyed keeping tabs on the wide variety of weather phenomena to
impact the Northeast during his youth, including severe thunderstorms and heat waves.
After this childhood of constantly watching the weather, Jase knew he wanted to
study meteorology in college, and earned a B.S. in Atmospheric Science at Cornell
University, while also honing his broadcasting skills as a sportscaster on campus
radio station WVBR. Growing tired of derivations and triple integrals, he decided
to switch gears for graduate school to focus more on his interests in longer term
climate and its impact on society. Jase is currently pursuing a master’s degree in
the Department of Geography at Penn State, where his research focuses on the
climatology of jet contrails and their impacts on diurnal temperature range.
When not searching the sky for contrails, or staring at weather forecast models,
Jase enjoys playing and watching sports (unfortunately as a New York Mets fan),
playing the keyboard, and going on road trips.
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Dan Tomaso
(Graduate Student)
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Dan has pursued his love for weather by studying meteorology at Penn State University as an undergraduate/graduate student.
During his career, he has been actively involved in the Campus Weather Service, serving as President and Vice President on
the Executive Council. He has also led the Campus Weather Service's severe weather team, which informs clients across central
Pennsylvania with up to the minute severe weather information.
Besides taking the necessary undergraduate and graduate level classes in meteorology, Dan was a student teacher for a class
that studies the computer applications of meteorology. His research interests include creating a hydrographic climatology
and studying nutrient and chemical budgets for the east coast of the United States.
Starting in August 2009, Dan began working on the abc27 Saturday and Sunday Morning shows with James Crummel.
Dan enjoys working with the weekend morning crew and is thrilled to have the opportunity to work for the news station he
grew up with.
Dan is excited to work with the weather communications group here at Penn State and looks forward to forecasting and broadcasting for Weather World.
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Heather Waldman
(student)
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Now a senior, Heather has been with the Weather World family since her freshman year as a producer and director.
She is excited to make her on-camera debut! Weather wasn't always a passion for Heather, in fact, she was terrified of thunderstorms as a child.
Her parents still enjoy telling stories of her hiding in the basement upon seeing "dark clouds" rolling into the backyard. Growing up, she learned
all that she could and is now fascinated by mother nature's fury.
Heather is pursuing a double major in Meteorology and Telecommunications and hopes to find herself working for a television station upon graduation next year.
She serves as Vice President of Penn State's Campus Weather Service and was a member of the 'Weather or Not' season 10 team in 2011.
This summer, she interned with WCAU in Philadelphia. She also works for Penn State's Athletic Department as a production assistant during most home varsity
sporting events. Some of Heather's non-weather interests include baseball, drawing and running. |
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Brandon Orr
(student)
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Since Spring 2012, Brandon has been working behind the scenes as a director for Weather World and is now on the other side of the camera!
Growing up on the shoreline of Virginia Beach, Brandon has experienced a wide variety of weather and fell in love with it.
Now a senior at Penn State working toward a meteorology degree, he plays an active role in the meteorology department as a
teaching assistant for an introductory meteorology course, the Advertising Chair for the Campus Weather Service, treasurer
for the local branch of the American Meteorological Society, forecaster for several forecasting projects, and a producer/anchor/reporter
for "Weather or Not" on C-Net Channel 7 in Centre County. Brandon has interned at WAVY-TV 10 in Portsmouth, VA and the National Weather Service
in Wakefield, VA, and is a step away from graduating in May 2013. Outside of his weather hobbies he enjoys anything outdoors,
especially spending time at the beach. |
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Chris Melhauser
(Graduate Student)
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Christopher joined the
Weather World team in January of 2010 and is
a native of Greeley, CO (50 miles northeast
of Denver). Christopher has always had a
fascination with the weather developed from
an early age of anticipating the next big
snow storm and the possibility it would
close school (sadly it only happened twice
in his 23 year stent in CO). Colorado
weather is always so hard to predict, which
motivated Christopher to learn the inner
workings of weather prediction. He received
his B.S. in mechanical engineering (minors
in economics and atmospheric sciences) from
the University of Colorado in Boulder and
proceeded to pursue a M.S. in meteorology at
Penn State. During his year and a half in
State College, Christopher has had the
opportunity to TA a multitude of classes, be
a participant in the VORTEX 2 field project,
and complete research in the predictability
and forecasting of severe storms. He has
also been able to get involved in the
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Graduate Student Council (social chair) and
Department of Meteorology Graduate
Association (new graduate student
orientation chair). When Christopher is not
in the studio or doing research, he enjoys
running, skiing, and traveling whenever
possible. After completing his M.S,
Christopher is planning on either pursuing
his PhD or finding a job in risk management.
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