Contact: Keli Tarp
(405) -366-0451
Cell (405) 203-4839
Keli.Tarp@nssl.noaa.gov

LIGHTNING EXPERT TO SPEAK AT
NATIONAL SEVERE WEATHER WORKSHOP

Nationally recognized lightning expert Mary Ann Cooper, Ph.D., will be a featured speaker on Saturday, March 3 during the National Severe Weather Workshop in Norman, Okla. An expert on both lightning and electrical injuries, Cooper will present her research into the basic science aspects of lightning injury, with an emphasis on its characteristics and prevention.

The National Severe Weather Workshop, March 2 and 3, will highlight the latest research findings and forecasting techniques of the nation’s premier severe weather experts. It offers a unique opportunity to learn about the National Weather Service’s outlook, watch and warning process, severe weather preparedness and safety, Emergency Managers Weather Information Network, severe storm risks, lightning effects, wind damage effects and new ways to get radar data.

Registrations are still being accepted for the two-day event, which is designed for emergency managers, storm spotters and other weather enthusiasts, and is sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Partners, Central Oklahoma Chapter of the American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association and the Oklahoma Emergency Managers Association.

Cooper’s research interests span prevention to clinical interventions to development of an animal model of lightning injury. As an associate professor at the University of Illinois Medical School, she focuses on educating both physicians and the general public about the differences between lightning and electrical injuries and their treatments.

“Dr. Cooper is the world’s expert on the effects of lightning on the physiology of the human body,” said Joe Schaefer, director of NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. “She knows about both lightning’s immediate effects and its long-term consequences.”

As the director of the Lightning Injury Research Program at the University of Illinois, Cooper works with lightning researchers, individual physicians and lightning victims and their families to assist in understanding lightning injuries through basic research into their cellular mechanisms.

Cooper recently received a Special Award from the American Meteorological Society for “outstanding work on the medical effects of lightning which has enhanced the treatment of lightning strike victims and revolutionized lightning safety worldwide.” Additionally, she was the recipient of a Special Recognition Award from the Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International support group for “wisdom, mercy, gentility, and humanity” in her service on the board of directors.

More information about the National Severe Weather Workshop and a registration form is available online at http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/nsww2001 or by calling (405) 579-0771.