Senior Spotlight May 2022 – Claire Doyle

Senior Spotlight May 2022 – Claire Doyle

It’s that time of year – we are continuing our tradition of Senior Spotlights! For everyone, the past few years have been quite difficult, but we want to highlight our amazing seniors for having the tenacity to succeed through these tough times.  

Meet Claire Doyle! She’s from Wadsworth, Ohio, and she became interested in meteorology after dreaming of tornadoes! 

“As a child, I had frequent dreams of tornadoes and often preferred to watch the Weather Channel instead of cartoons. Even from a young age, I had an immense curiosity about the atmosphere and its many unknowns. In elementary school, I was found Googling “Best meteorology schools in the US” where the University of Oklahoma was at the top of the list, and so it was. I would spend my next 10 or so years dreaming of attending OU School of Meteorology and setting myself up to finally achieve that dream,” she said.  

This led Claire to travel all the way down to Norman! During her time in college, Claire was a member of the Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society (SCAN), President of the Oklahoma Weather Lab (OWL) during the 2021-2022 academic year, and the Director of Operations for OWL during the 2020-2021 academic year. 

“Being able to lead an organization that has had such a long-standing history in the SoM was truly humbling. I am so grateful to have had such a meaningful experience,” she said. 

To her, the toughest part of college was overcoming her own personal difficulties.  

“I struggled for much of my undergraduate career feeling as though I wasn’t smart enough to achieve success in such a rigorous program. I believed this for quite some time. However, now I hope to provide a message of encouragement for students feeling the same way; you can do anything you put your mind to! I certainly cannot say that it will always be easy, but speaking from the side of completing the degree, it is so incredibly worth it! Never stop chasing your dreams,” Claire said. 

Thank fully, college is not all difficult times!  

“My favorite part about college was having the opportunity to celebrate achievements with my friends. For many of us, studying meteorology had been a lifelong dream. Being able to work together and support one another to make those dreams a reality was so life-giving and rewarding. I am so proud of all our successes because I certainly could not have done it without my closest friends, and I cannot wait to celebrate on graduation day,” she said.  

After graduation in May, Claire will be attending graduate school here at the University of Oklahoma working with Dr. Scott Salesky to study boundary layer meteorology.

“I am looking forward to continuing my journey at the school I have held so close to my heart and a program that has done so much for me! Boomer Sooner!” Claire said. 

Congratulations, Claire! The School of Meteorology is excited to see all you do in the future!