Hristo Chipilski wins 2nd Place Oral Presentation at 17th annual AMS Mesoscale Conference

The School of Meteorology would like to congratulate Hristo Chipilski for winning 2nd Place Oral Presentation in the 17th AMS Mesoscale Conference in San Deigo, CA this summer! Chipilski’s presentation was used information gathered during the Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) field campaign, which was conducted during the summer of 2015. This field campaign allowed researchers to collect an unprecedented number of novel observations of the lower troposphere. We asked Chipilski to tell us about his presentation:

“My talk tried to answer the question whether the assimilation of these novel observations in high-resolution models can improve the forecast skill of bore-induced convection, which was one of the research foci of the field campaign. During my presentation, I tried to convince the audience that the collected PECAN data can indeed improve the forecast quality of the phenomena my research is focused on.”

We were also interested in what led him to pursue this subject:

“This Ph.D. project combines my favorite disciplines in our field, namely data assimilation and atmospheric dynamics. Despite being rather comprehensive, the project allows me to merge research ideas from two distinctly different areas and gain a deeper understanding of the subject. In addition, there is a growing tendency for the purely theoretical (analytical) and numerical weather prediction (NWP) worlds to diverge from each other. Given its scope, my project gives me the opportunity to least partially address this negative trend.”

What makes a successful talk? Chipilski makes a heavy point about making sure you understand your audience:

“The most important consideration for a successful talk is to understand the type of audience listening to you. The last ultimately determines the format of your presentation. For example, if you are giving a talk before scientists with a broad range of expertise, then your talk should provide a more extensive introduction to the presented topic. Vice versa, sharing results with your own research group could only cover the technical details of one’s work since your colleagues are more or less familiar with the scope of your project. However, it is equally important to remain confident while speaking in front of a big audience. Although this may seem difficult at first, it is important to realize that you are the most knowledgeable person in the room when it comes to the contents of your own presentation.”

This was Chipilski’s first time to attend the AMS Mesoscale Conference, as well as his first visit San Diego. He links San Deigo to his hometown in Bulgaria:

“This was the first time I have given an oral talk at a scientific conference, i.e. not just an AMS conference. Having said that, I am very flattered to be awarded the prize. Coming from a coastal city in Bulgaria, San Diego was more than welcoming to me. It really reminiscent of the long summer days back home that I used to enjoy not so long ago. Although there were a lot of favorite activities during my stay in the city, I think that riding a bike around the Coronado island was the highlight of the trip.”