Personal Autobiography

Professional information about me is found in my Vita (PDF) and associated List of Publications (PDF). However, my life involves more than just grants and publications; so this narrative provides some personal information. It has become sort of an autobiography.

 

Early Years

I am a native of Navasota, Texas. Houston is located approximately 75 miles southeast of Navasota, and Texas A&M University in College Station is located about 20 miles to the northwest. Navasota was, and is, a quiet little community of about 5,500 people. My Texas accent has not diminished much over the years. Navasota was a good place in which to grow up during the 50’s and 60’s. It had a small town atmosphere in which everyone knew everyone else. Farming, ranching, and supporting activities were the livelihoods of most people. My mother ran a beauty shop, and my father was the distributor of the Houston Post newspaper in Navasota; so he had to get up at 2 AM every morning. He died when I was fourteen, and my mother died in 1999. I am an only child.

I was a very nerdy kid—great in science and math, but very poor in any kind of sports. I always was picked last for teams at recess because I truly was the worst. I became interested in meteorology when I was in the fifth grade. My teacher started a paper back book-of-the-month club, and one month I ordered “Oliver Becomes a Weatherman”. I really got turned on by the weather and stuck with it ever since. I also founded the Bobie Weather Bureau (BWB) while in grade school. (Bobie is my nickname, but no body around Tallahassee will call me that—even though I have asked some to do so.) The BWB had inexpensive (all I could afford), sometimes homemade weather instruments with which I observed the weather. The enclosed picture shows me standing beside my instrument shelter (an apple crate) and wind set in my back yard when I was in the eighth grade. I took observations every day at 5 PM. Keep in mind that this was long before the days of the Weather Channel or NOAA Weather Radio. I had virtually no real-time weather information from outside Navasota. However, when I was in high school, I was able to buy a radio with the long-wave marine band. I could pick up Galveston and sometimes New Orleans (on a good day) for current reports. A big limitation was that lightning caused tremendous static on the long wave band; so when I wanted observations the most, all I could get was static. Times really have changed.

Navasota did not have a U.S.W.B. cooperative observer back then—they still don’t. My passion in high school was to become that observer. I tried everything to get that un-paid job, even writing my congressman, but to no avail. Now, however, Navasota High School is at least part of a network of weather sites around the country that is used for educational purposes.

Now that the BWB has moved to Tallahassee, it is greatly improved. I still take observations each day when I get home from work (around 6 PM). I have computers in my home and office, plus Weather Channel and NOAA Weather Radio. So I can satisfy my desire for weather “fun”. I hope to be doing more weather fun in the future.

 

School Days

I graduated from Navasota High School in 1966 as salutatorian of my class. That distinction was not as impressive as it might sound because there were only 62 students in my class. I received a four year scholarship to Texas A&M University and began during summer 1966. A&M had a pretty rough and tumble reputation back then, and I was scared I was not up to the task—either academically or personally. Although the Corps of Cadets was a dominant influence on campus, I was not a member. Since A&M was so close (20 miles), and since we had very little money, I commuted to Aggieland each day. I was always in car pools, and it worked out pretty well. My fears about TAMU were unfounded. I did well academically, making the Dean’s List every semester. I graduated with a B.S. in meteorology in May 1970 and immediately began graduate school.

Texas A&M offered me a NDEA fellowship that would pay most of my graduate education; so, I stuck around for graduate school. NDEA fellowships (National Defense Education Act) were an outgrowth of Russia’s launch of Sputnik. The U.S. suddenly decided we did not have enough scientists, and NDEA was supposed to help train more of them. During my graduate career, I also was a teaching assistant and research assistant at various times. My major professor was Dr. James Scoggins. I received the M.S. in December 1971 and the Ph.D. in December 1976. I worked really hard in graduate school. Looking back on those times—I worked too hard. It was all work and no social life at all.

 

Living in St. Louis

My first real job was at Saint Louis University (SLU). I moved myself up there in a U-Haul during summer 1977 and lived in a high rise apartment directly across campus. Oh, was that a change for this country guy!! However, SLU was a great place for me to begin my academic career. SLU is a Jesuit (Catholic) school, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant. Our department was very small, only 5 faculty in meteorology, and not very many students either. Being small has its pros and cons. However, our small size meant we were a very close knit group, and, for the most part, we worked together closely for our common good. My research program began to spin up at SLU, sponsored mostly by NASA, but partly by NSF. I mainly studied the environments of severe local storms, using standard diagnostic analyses, but also using satellite-derived soundings and kinetic energy budgets. I had a great group of graduate students, and we did some good research.

My church activities in St. Louis were a very positive experience. I am a life long Lutheran, and had held a variety of church offices in Navasota, ranging from Sunday School teacher to congregational secretary. When I moved to St. Louis, I attended Messiah Lutheran Church, located on South Grand Blvd., right across from Tower Grove Park. One of the great aspects of Messiah was singing in the choir. I had played in the band while young (the trombone), but never had been in a choir before (we did not even have a choir in Navasota). I made good friends in the choir. Those people were great fun to be around, and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. I also served as an elder in the congregation for a while, although that job really did not mesh well with my talents and limitations.

The city of St. Louis, Messiah congregation, and SLU always will hold many fond memories for me.

 

Life at Florida State University

I decided that I needed to get back to a smaller town in the warm South and to a larger university. I also had learned to despise the snow and cold of St. Louis. I applied for a position at Florida State University, and moved to Tallahassee during summer 1985. I lived in an apartment for about 18 months, but then bought a house about 5 miles northeast of campus. That distance is considered relatively close in. I really enjoy having my own house after being in an apartment for so long. I like to putter around the house and maintain my flower beds and shrubs. The house is much larger than I need, but I enjoy it a lot. One of my favorite rooms is my study that has several large windows facing the backyard that I keep in a quasi-natural state. I can work peacefully in the study, watching the squirrels and other abundant wildlife outside.

Gracie the cat lives with me in the house. She is solid black but very affectionate. She runs to the door when I arrive home each night, and always wants to be in my lap. Gracie is a great companion.

The Meteorology Department at FSU is quite different from that at SLU. We have great facilities and some great students and faculty. But we generally do not have the close working relationships that I experienced at SLU. My research program has grown to a modest size. During Fall 2008, I have 3 Ph.D. candidates and 7 M.S. candidates. The picture that opens this web site shows them all. They all are hard working guys and gals, and are doing some important research. They are the closest I have to a family in Tallahassee.

My research took an interesting turn about 12 years ago. I was asked to participate in NASA’s Global Tropospheric Experiment, which studies atmospheric chemistry over various parts of the world. Specifically, I have served as Mission Meteorologist on eight of these field projects. I have been stationed with the NASA DC-8 “flying laboratory” which is fully instrumented to measure trace gases associated with ozone. The instruments generally are one-of-a-kind models built by the scientists on board who maintain them. My job is to provide meteorological consultation prior to and after the field phase, to provide forecasts for the individual flights, and to conduct meteorological research related to atmospheric chemistry afterwards.

Flying on the DC-8 is quite an adventure. I get to sit in the jump seat right behind the pilot. The view is great; however, the real objective is for me to announce to the other participants via headset the various weather phenomena we are encountering. Each flight usually is 8-10 hours long. Actually, the flights are a time for me to relax somewhat because my hardest work occurs on days between flights—when I analyze various sources of meteorological data and prognoses (from FSU and from the local weather agencies), prepare forecasts, and give briefings. I have seen some interesting things from the air and from the ground.

The NASA projects have allowed me travel all over the world—at no cost. The itinerary for these projects has included for TRACE-A: Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Ascension Island, and Puerto Rico; PEM-Tropics A: Honolulu, Tahiti, Easter Island, Fiji, New Zealand, flying over Antarctica, and Fiji; SONEX: Ireland, the Azores Islands, and Bangor, Maine; PEM-Tropics B: Hilo Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Easter Island, and Costa Rica; INTEX-A: most of the U.S.; INTEX B: Houston and Anchorage, AK; TRACE-P: Kona Hawaii, Guam, Hong Kong, Okinawa, and Tokyo; ARCTAS: Fairbanks AK, Palmdale CA, Cold Lake Alberta Canada, Thule Greenland, and Iqualut Canada.

Teaching at FSU always is fun. I usually rotate through four courses. Synoptic meteorology lecture/lab (MET 4500C) is the first demanding synoptic course for our undergraduates. I employ current weather in the three labs per week. That keeps me on my toes, but is a good excuse to keep up closely with the current weather. I also teach our graduate course in mesometeorology (MET 5551C). From time to time I also teach an introductory course for non-science majors (MET 1010) and our first course for meteorology majors (MET 2700).

My collaborative research with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee and the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral also have been a great source of joy because the goal is operational meteorology. I like working on forecast related research problems, and these projects allow me to do just that. If I had my choice, I would be a half time NWS forecaster and a half time faculty member. Neither group would allow such an arrangement; so, unfortunately, it will never happen.

My current research focuses on lightning and its prediction, long range transport of air pollution, using lightning to forecast hurricane intensity, multi-sensor determination of precipitation, and hydrologic issues.

 

Out of School Activities

I recently turned 60 and am going through a mid-life evaluation of my life. I would like to take life a bit easier, but that has turned out to be a challenge. I want to continue doing research, but at a more relaxed pace, with fewer projects at one time. I want to have more time to keep up with the current weather and to incorporate that in my courses. I recently upgraded the Bobie Weather Bureau to electronic instrumentation that feeds into my home computer. That has been fun. I also am a big railfan and can sit for hours watching trains go by. One of the best sites for doing that is Folkston, GA which is on the main line of CSX. On a good day, a train will pass through about every 30 minutes. If you are interested in train watching, here is their web site.

I have been a swimmer for about the past twenty-five years. Before that I was runner but started to have too many injuries. Now, each day at about 11:30 AM I swim laps on campus for approximately thirty-five minutes. I call this my "attitude adjustment hour" because after each swim I feel better both physically and mentally.

I want to devote more time to church activities so that I can be less self-centered and have a stronger faith, with less worry and anxiety. I have written two series of daily devotions for Portals of Prayer that is published by the Lutheran Church. The first series of daily devotions, for July 1994, had weather related themes from Biblical texts. The most recent series, published for March 1997, had Lenten themes. With a circulation of nearly one million copies, I can have a greater positive impact on the world through this writing than by anything I accomplish in meteorology. I am an active member of Grace Lutheran Church in Tallahassee where I am member of the Worship Committee and sing in the early service choir. I recently became the faculty advisor for the FSU chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ. This is a really fun activity.

I have been taking organ lessons. I will never be very good at it, but I want to give it a try. The major problems are finding time to practice and the difficulty of learning complex brain to hands and feet procedures at my age.

Finally, I like to travel for pleasure (not business). So far I have taken cruises to the Baltic, the Mediterranean, and Central America. I am thinking about a European vacation in Summer 2009. Some possible choices are a long cruise down the Danube from Prague to Bucharest, or a comprehensive tour of Germany where all of my great grandparent were raised. We will see what happens.

With all of these activities, it is a matter of re-arranging my schedule and setting the proper priorities. I hope that the Lord gives me additional healthy years.