Anumber of Penn State Meteorology alumni have chosen rewarding careers in weather risk managment and make critical decisions that impact every facet of our daily lives. For instance, weather can affect energy and agricultural markets, the retail industry, the insurance industry, transportation of goods, etc. In their own words, here are a few stories from Penn State Meteorology alumni about their careers, how they got started, and how their Penn State Meteorology degree and experience led them to success.
Michael Gasper (1994 B.S.)
Meteorologist at NRG Energy, Inc
After graduating from Penn State in 1994, I worked for Accuweather
and Surface Systems which added forecasting skills to the knowledge
I learned at Penn State. After that I worked as a contractor for the
US Air Force as a weather trainer at Scott AFB in Illinois. In 2002,
I entered the energy markets as a meteorologist for Reliant Energy then
switched to Cinergy in Cincinnati as an energy meteorologist, and now
I am currently the senior meteorologist in Princeton, NJ. My forecasts
have a direct impact not only on operations but also on our trading
here at NRG. [Read the full profile.]
David D'Arcangelo (1994 B.S., 2000 M.S.)
Energy Meteorologist
I graduated from Penn St. in 1994 and earned a commission into the Air
Force. My first duty assignment was at Andrews AFB, MD performing world-wide,
aviation forecasts for Air Force One and other military missions. Working
in a high-visibility environment allowed me to develop my communication
skills and learn to make forecasts that identified risk and uncertainty.
I subsequently worked at the Pentagon where I continued to support White
House operations and also had the chance to forecast for many overseas
locales. This world-view has proven crucial in understanding global
weather patterns and learning to forecast by using models as only a
means to make a forecast, not the only way. I returned to Penn St. for
my M.S. (’00) and then continued to work aviation meteorology
for Delta Air Lines. [Read
the full profile.]
Rich Surace (2000 B.S.)
Weather Analyst/Application Developer at Duke Energy Corporation
My first job out of Penn State was with MDA Federal Inc. (formally EarthSat) as a staff meteorologist. Not long after starting, I was introduced to programming languages such as VBA, PERL, and HTML. I quickly realized that I not only had a passion for weather, but also for programming.
During the summer of 2004, David D’Arcangelo (’94 BS
/ ‘00 MS), Director of Market Fundamentals/Lead Meteorologist
at Duke Energy (formally Cinergy), approached me about an opening
for a weather analyst/application developer. This was exactly what
I was looking for, a perfect fusion of weather and programming in
the fast-paced commodity trading industry. [Read
the full profile.]
Jeff Mock (2004 B.S.)
Energy Meteorologist at DTN/Meteorlogix
In addition to meteorology, I've long had keen interests in business and financial decision making. It was my original intention to pursue a career forecasting for energy and other commercial industries; however, at the same time I was working toward my degree in meteorology, I was moonlighting as a radio air personality. I went on to intern at The Weather Channel Radio Network, followed by my first full-time job in meteorology as a radio broadcast meteorologist at Saint Paul based Weather Eye.
Although my focus at Weather Eye was on general weather forecasting,
communicating, and live severe weather coverage, my duties allowed
me to get my first taste of forecasting for utility clients. I realized
that as much as I enjoyed broadcasting, I appreciated the challenge
of forecasting for the energy clients even more. In December 2006,
the opportunity arose for me to join the Minneapolis office of DTN/Meteorlogix
as an energy meteorologist. [Read the
full profile.]
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