Christopher J. Schultz
Chair, AMS Board for Early Career Professionals
Co-Investigator, Short-term Predication Research and Transition Center, NASA
"Engagement of Early Career Members beyond the Annual Meeting"
Abstract: The purpose of American Meteorological Society’s Board of Early Career Professionals (BCEP) is to stimulate activities on matters pertaining to the interests and development of early career professionals. For the purpose of the Board, early career professionals are defined as those within ten years of having earned their highest degree or are under 40 years of age when appointed. AMS recognized that a bridge from student membership to seasoned scientists was lacking within the organization, and the role of BECP is to fill this gap.
The focus of the Board in the last two years has been engaging AMS early career members beyond the AMS annual meeting. Numerous efforts have been undertaken to help the membership build traditional “soft” skills (e.g., interviews, salary negotiation, communication, career planning) that can be used by the members to advance their personal careers. Furthermore, the board has served as a connection point between early career members and mid to late career membership through numerous networking events, conferences, and local meetings. Herein, a variety of engagement techniques will be outlined to show how the AMS BECP is reaching out to serve AMS and the AMS Early Career Membership.
Brief biography: Christopher Schultz is chair of the AMS Board for Early Career Professionals. He is also Co-Investigator for the Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Project. Schultz’s background focused on using space and ground based observations of lightning to predict the onset of severe weather in thunderstorms through the development of a real-time algorithm for operational use. In collaboration with UAH and the National Severe Storms Laboratory, this algorithm is ready to utilize the Geostationary Lightning Mapper data on GOES-16 once the GOES-16 satellite is operational in 2017. His primary role in SPoRT is scientific development of new operationally oriented products which utilize NASA/NOAA lightning observations for improvement in short term prediction of hazardous weather, where he serves as a lead for lightning research in the SPoRT paradigm.
PHOTO CREDIT: NASA SPoRT