Junior Lauren Tyler praised for performance at NWS Fort Worth Office

Junior Lauren Tyler praised for performance at NWS Fort Worth Office

This past summer, junior Lauren Tyler volunteered at the National Weather Service Fort Worth Office, a highly sought out forecasting experience.

Meteorologist-in-Charge Tom Bradshaw sent the School of Meteorology a letter about Tyler’s performance during her internship. He praised her for exceptional performance with his team.

The purpose of this letter is to recognize OU Meteorology Major Lauren Tyler for her outstanding performance this summer as a student volunteer at WFO Dallas/Fort Worth. Lauren was one of two students selected for our 2019 summer program, and she worked approximately 150 hours between mid-May and late July. In my 7 years as the MIC at this office, I’m hard-pressed to recall a student who was more diligent and disciplined in her assigned project, and yet was so personable and pleasurable to work with, as was Lauren…Speaking on behalf of WFO Dallas/Fort Worth, it was a true pleasure and privilege to host Lauren at our office.

Tyler chose to apply to the Forth Worth Office due to personal convenience.

“I live in the DFW area so I was able to stay close to home while gaining great experience,” she said.

Tyler was able to forecast for the Fort Worth area and work on her digital communication skills.

“To start [my day], I would shadow a forecaster while they did their long term or short term forecasts,” she said. “I would occasionally get to do some light forecasting while they guided me through it. I also would get to help make graphics and observe the social media pages such as Twitter or Facebook. During severe weather, I was able to actually run the twitter account and would reply to various weather reports.”

Throughout her time, Tyler faced forecasting challenges, but those challenges were balanced out with the excitement of saving lives.

“The most challenging thing was learning how to use the AWIPS technology to forecast and learning when and how to apply certain models,” she said. “The best thing was getting to do my own research project. I was able to use my ArcGIS skills to determine the top 10 most dangerous flash flood points in the county warning area.”

Even with the challenges, Tyler would forecast for the Forth Worth office again in a heartbeat.

“ The office was so fun and all the employees were so welcoming and kind,” she said. “I absolutely loved working there and cannot wait to go back and visit!”

In her near future, she plans to continue her meteorology education and pursue a private-sector career.

“I want to go to graduate school to further my GIS skills and perhaps apply them to some sort of climate research,” she said. “Beyond that, I have looked into working for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) or a private company.”

Congratulations Lauren! The School of Meteorology is extremely proud of your experience.