During the summers of 2016 through 2020, 62 undergraduate students participated in a unique research and career exploration experience at the National Weather Center and its partner organizations in Norman, Oklahoma. Each student collaborated with working scientists to conduct research and live the life of a scientist. They attended science lectures, participated in workshops to build skills and knowledge relevant to the job, learned and practiced a variety of research methods, and presented their research in both written and oral formats at the end of the summer and at a national conference. Over the five years, 543 students from over 100 different colleges and universities from across the U.S. applied to our program; all were U.S. citizens or permanent residents and 11 to 20% were from students who were members of groups underrepresented in the atmospheric sciences by their race, ethnicity, disability, and Veterans status. A selection committee of scientists from throughout the National Weather Center organizations chose competitive applicants whose interests aligned with our research areas. The resulting cohorts were just over half female and the majority were White; 12 participants were Black/African American, 10 were of Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity, three were Native American, one was multi-racial, two were Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, and two had a physical disability. Our mentors were employed by organizations throughout the academic, federal, and private sectors in atmospheric sciences in Norman, Oklahoma, and two Tribal Nations.

All students built and practiced skills for research including the basics of Linux, programming with Python, software version control, how to forecast severe weather, present scientific results, scientific writing, how to design scientific posters, how to use of social media to promote your science, and how to create a personal statement for career or graduate school applications. They also learned how to run a mobile radar and use other research instrumentation. All participants learned about the responsible conduct of research and professional ethics, workplace safety, what work in a research environment is like, and how the lack of a result or outcome is actually a scientific finding. Depending upon their projects, some participants learned one or more of these: supercomputing; how to run numerical weather prediction models and interpret results, spectral analysis; composite analysis; significance testing; interpretation of synoptic maps; statistical methods for verifying meteorological data; how to handle large datasets; computer programming languages MatLab, IDL, Perl; and ARCGIS tools. A few students learned electrical engineering skills including soldering, wiring, basics of microwave circuit operation, and/or rectifier design.

Thanks to enthusiastic support from our mentors and workshop leaders, all elements of the 2020 program were conducted online. Tours were personal and insightful, and the virtual nature enabled many alumni to share their experiences. One mentor team successfully piloted the team mentoring approach, where two participants shared their literature search and dataset handling before branching to different analyses. Participants were grateful we held our program when so many internships were canceled.

Participants' research results have advanced knowledge and understanding of basic science and mission-relevant, applied research. Results have been used for training, emergency management operations, and risk planning. Research experiences were supplemented with tours and field trips which varied each year according to participants’ interests. We also had speakers from all sectors of the atmospheric sciences by using our extensive alumni and professional networks to talk with the participants about a wide variety of careers, including the many forms of research careers.

Our impact on participants is significant. REU programs show undergraduate students the nature of science through participation in it. The outcome of this program is a cohort of bright, young scientists and science enthusiasts with a deep appreciation for quality research. Of the 41% who are currently in the workforce, 32% are leading productive careers in the atmospheric sciences or another STEM field. Others are using their scientific skills in a variety of other positions including banking and city planning. Almost half of the alumni are currently in school, pursuing graduate degrees.

Participants report experiencing the joy of scientific discovery while learning skills they report as invaluable to later graduate school and career experiences. The scientific workforce is more diverse because of this program, with 60% of participants being female and 10–20% members of racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in atmospheric sciences. Participants produced or contributed to five formal publications and led 28 professional conference presentations. An additional 22 presented their research at a student research conference. This program also continued its important collaborations across the academic, public, and private sectors to accomplish its goals and mentor the next generation of scientists who will work across all sectors of the atmospheric sciences. This REU program has proven to effectively nurture the next generation of scientists and contribute to NSF's goal of creating an internationally competitive, globally engaged public, private, and academic scientific workforce.

Last Modified: 07/26/2023
Modified by: Daphne S Ladue