History
Throughout the past half-century, there have been several attempts at establishing a local chapter of the American Meteorological Society in the North Florida region. Oftentimes, these chapters would be active for several years, only to fold as interest waned, likely an offshoot of the predominantly student-based nature of each chapter. Before the North Florida Chapter was established in 2002, nearly two decades had passed since the last local chapter folded within the region.
The drive to establish the North Florida Chapter was spearheaded by Dr. Phil Cunningham, a former Associate Professor in the Florida State University Department of Meteorology, in early 2002. The predecessor to the chapter held a general interest meeting in February 2002, featuring a speaker from the Mt. Washington Observatory in New Hampshire. During the summer, the necessary paperwork was filed with the national AMS and the North Florida Chapter was established as a local chapter serving the Tallahassee, FL and surrounding regions.
Since its inception, the chapter has grown immensely and participated in a wide array of activities, both social and professional. With a dedicated set of leaders and an ever-expanding membership, the chapter hopes to buck the precedent set by older chapters and permanently establish a presence within the North Florida, South Georgia and Southeast Alabama regions. Our activities planned for the upcoming year are designed to accomplish that very goal.
To understand where we are today and where we are going in the future, however, an understanding of our past is essential. Our history may be short, but in just eight years, the chapter has accomplished quite a bit. We encourage you to check out the story behind our inaugural year of existence as well as the wide array of accomplishments during our second year in 2003-2004, leading to the chapter being awarded Chapter Honor Roll status from the national AMS for the chapter's accomplishments. The 2004-2005 chapter year brought continued prosperity to the chapter, with the chapter being named the Local Chapter of the Year by the national AMS, while the 2005-2006 chapter year was another successful, building year for the chapter. Our most recent year, 2006-2007, made great strides in membership and activities. In the 2007-2008 year, FSU became StormReady in large part due to the efforts of then President, Charlie Woodrum, and many members. Due to those efforts and the inception of WeatherFest, the chapter was awards Outstanding Chapter of the Year for the 2007-2008 year. For second time in two years, the chapter was honored with the distinction of Chapter of the Year in the 2008-2009 year. Keep our past accomplishments in mind as you view the remainder of our website; our activities over the coming months and years are designed to build upon the solid foundation set in our first six years.
Additional programs and activities are planned for this chapter year. For information regarding current chapter activities, please visit the News page for current information regarding the North Florida Chapter.
Due to the chapter website update, the annual reviews of each chapter year are not avilable right now. Please check back soon for an update.
|
Questions? Comments! Suggestions? Contact the Webmaster.
This page was last updated:
Saturday, January 30, 2010 7:06 PM
North Florida Chapter of the American Meteorological Society |