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

LOCAL STUDENT PARTICIPATES IN
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM

North Kingstown High School graduate Kristen Delack, a senior meteorology major at Penn State University in University Park, Penn., was one of 10 students selected to participate in a summer research program at the Oklahoma Weather Center in Norman, Okla. that ends Aug. 4.

The program pairs undergraduate students with government and university weather researchers for 10 weeks to conduct research on a variety of topics including severe weather, tornadoes, numerical weather prediction models and climatology. In addition, students prepare and present papers reporting the results of their research. Their experience is supplemented by tours, field trips, and lectures, all designed to provide students the opportunity to judge whether or not they want to pursue a future career in research.

The students' mentors, who are leading researchers in the field of meteorology, are from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and University of Oklahoma (OU) organizations that make up the Oklahoma Weather Center, including NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory, Storm Prediction Center and National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office, as well as OU's Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms.

Delack, who is the daughter of Sandra and Douglas Delack of North Kingstown, R.I., is working with mentors from the National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office - Meteorologist-in-Charge Mike Foster, Science Operations Officer Dave Andra and Forecaster Dan Miller - on a project to develop a climatology of atypical tornadic thunderstorms. She is documenting Doppler radar characteristics of atypical supercell thunderstorms for the purpose of improving tornado warnings.

"It is wonderful to have the opportunity to try my hand at a career in research with REU before it really counts," Delack said. "My location at the National Weather Service has only made my experience better as all of the meteorologists are so knowledgeable. They are always willing to lend a helping hand or a listening ear."

She added, "I also love how Oklahoma is so weather-focused. One can allow themselves to become completely immersed in weather if they take advantage of all the opportunities surrounding them."

Students apply for participation in the Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms. The 10 participants were chosen from almost 100 applicants in the fields of meteorology, atmospheric science, physics, engineering, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physical geography and other disciplines.

The aim of the National Science Foundation is to promote and advance scientific and engineering progress in the United States. Projects supported by the national REU program provide opportunities annually for several thousand undergraduate students to participate in active mathematics, science and engineering research experiences.

Information about the following organizations can be found online:
Oklahoma Weather Center 2001 REU program: http://www.caps.ou.edu/CAPS/reu01
National Severe Storms Laboratory: http://www.nssl.noaa.gov
Storm Prediction Center: http://www.spc.noaa.gov
Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms: http://www.caps.ou.edu
Oklahoma Weather Center: http://owc.ou.edu
University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology: http://weather.ou.edu/~som
National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov