OU Students Co-Chair the Student AMS Conference

School of Meteorology Ph.D. students Matt Flournoy and Kenzie Krocak have had a busy year. In addition to being married earlier this year, they will be co-chairing the AMS Student Conference at the Annual Meeting in January 2019. They are also working with a third co-chair: Gaige Kerr of Johns Hopkins University.

Flournoy and Krocak joined the Student Conference Planning Committee (SCPC) in 2015. They have been helping to plan the conference since 2016 and this year they will take over as first-time co-chairs. The co-chairs are the leaders of the SCPC, a committee composed of about 25 graduate and undergraduate students and one faculty representative. Their responsibilities include leading monthly conference calls with SCPC members, inviting keynote speakers to the conference, running the Student Conference Poster Session, and working closely with AMS to plan event space, among many others.

Flournoy and Krocak are excited to get the ball rolling with the 2019 conference. They told us, “We most look forward to interacting with the students on a personal level. As first-time co-chairs, we are excited to get up in front of all the students and introduce our keynote speakers, but above all, we can’t wait to interact with the student attendees and ensure they have a successful conference experience.”

For students attending the conference, Flournoy and Krocak have some advice for their first time out:

“First, do not be afraid to interact with your peers around you from different universities. At the very beginning of the student conference, you will hear the co-chairs encourage you to sit by someone you don’t know. You will also receive different index cards at lunch indicating which table you will sit at. It can be uncomfortable to go outside of your comfort zone and meet new people, especially if you are surrounded by friends from your university. But the more peers you can talk to and interact with, the more successful your conference experience will be. Second, soak up advice given to you by professionals during the sessions. This includes large keynote sessions as well as smaller, more personal sessions like Conversations with Professionals. Use these opportunities to learn from professionals and ask them questions.”

Congratulations to Matt and Kenzie on this accomplishment! We’ll be looking forward to seeing the SCPC’s hard work come to fruition next month.