Our club is entirely student-run and is managed by the following eight Vermont State University-Lyndon students plus a faculty advisor. We cannot thank them enough for their dedication to our club’s continued excellence!
2023-2024 Chapter Officers
President: Chase Abbott
Vice President: Patrick Osborn
Secretary: Brett Violett
Treasurer: Luke Morin
Public Relations: Shea Harrington
Community Outreach: Nate Moore
Historian: Will Perkins
Club Representative: Andy Mckeen
Advisor: Dr. Ari D. Preston
Biographies:
President – Chase Abbott
Chase is a senior majoring in Atmospheric Science with concentrations in the National Weather Service and Private Industry and a minor in Mathematics. Chase comes from Charlton, Massachusetts, where his family and “the cutest dog on earth” live. He enjoys cheering on the Boston Celtics, playing basketball with his friends, beating Vice President Patrick in 1v1’s, or looking at severe weather in his free time. Chase recently attended SUNY Oswego’s Storm Observation experience in June of 2022. He traveled with members from both schools for 14 days across 14 different states, logging 8,400 miles of travel and seeing everything but a tornado over that time. In his third year on the executive board, Chase is proud to represent the VTSU-Lyndon AMS & NWA Student Chapter as President for the 2023-2024 year!
Vice President – Patrick Osborn
Patrick is a fourth-year student in the Atmospheric Science and Broadcast & Digital Journalism departments. Patrick is excited to serve on the executive board for the VTSU-Lyndon AMS & NWA Student Chapter for the second year and first in the position of Vice President. Patrick grew up in the small town of Norwich, Vermont, where he became interested in weather when Tropical Storm Irene wiped through the Connecticut River Valley in the summer of 2011. Patrick completed a summer internship and is now a freelance meteorologist for ABC22/FOX44 in Burlington, VT. Patrick serves as the captain of the VTSU-Lyndon Men’s Soccer team and competes on the VTSU-Lyndon Men’s Tennis team. In his free time, Patrick loves to golf, ski, play basketball against President Chase Abbott, watch Premier League soccer, and run around with his three dogs: Katie, Venus, and Lucy. Patrick is thrilled to contribute to the VTSU-Lyndon AMS & NWA executive board and have another excellent year!
Secretary – Brett Violett
Brett Violett is a Senior at VTSU- Lyndon pursuing a major in Atmospheric Sciences and minors in both Physics and Mathematics. Brett is very happy to be on the Lyndon Chapter of AMS/NWA Executive Board as Secretary for the third year in a row. He hopes to continue to improve NESC and ensure all participants are able to take full advantage of the amazing opportunities available at the conference. When Brett is not fulfilling his academic and club duties, he volunteers on two local fire departments. Brett loves learning about and studying fire. He was inspired by his father, a career Firefighter Paramedic, and the intense 2020 California fire season. He hopes to attend graduate school in the western U.S. to study how weather and wildland fires interact with one another. Particularly the development of pyrocumulonimbus clouds over fires and how they impact fire behavior. Beyond his professional aspirations, Brett is an avid lover of movies, particularly horror and science fiction and a huge fan of the New England Patriots.
Treasurer – Luke Morin
Luke is excited to be re-joining the executive board of the VTSU-Lyndon Chapter of the AMS & NWA club as club Treasurer. Luke is a fourth year student in the Atmospheric Sciences department concentrating in graduate school, National Weather Service, and private industry. He is also pursuing minors in both mathematics and physics. Luke is from a small town in Massachusetts called Auburn, it is here where his passion for weather began at a very young age. Living in New England allowed Luke to experience many different natural phenomena that helped develop his love for weather. He enjoys all varieties of weather but has a special interest in tropical and severe weather. In his free time Luke enjoys playing video games, cracking jokes with friends, and spending time with family. He is looking forward to a great year with the executive board, and can’t wait to help make this a year to remember.
Public Relations – Shea Harrington
Shea is a fourth-year student in the atmospheric sciences department with a concentration in Private Industry. This is his first year serving on the executive board, however he’s been an active member of the Lyndon AMS/NWA since his freshman year. Shea is originally from Wells, ME where he became fascinated with weather at a very young age after witnessing a plethora of storms hit his coastal town. A memorable one for him was when Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012 where he got to experience what it was like being in a major tropical system for the first time. When Shea’s not performing his club duties, you can find him going on walks/runs, hanging out with his dog, and exploring/researching long forgotten places. Shea is thrilled to be a part of the executive board for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Community Outreach – Nate Moore
Nate is a second-year student here at Lyndon pursuing a major in Atmospheric Sciences with
concentrations in the National Weather Service and Grad School, and hopefully a minor in
Mathematics as well. While growing up in southern New England, Nate was able to experience
the joys of all types of weather which have contributed to his love of it and the power it has.
Outside of academics, Nate runs for the Lyndon Cross Country Team, and continues to train on
his own year-round. During his first year on the AMS executive board as the Community
Outreach Coordinator, Nate is looking forward to acquiring new skills as well as learning from
his other board members throughout this academic year.
Historian – Will Perkins
Will is a third year atmospheric sciences major that is focusing on National Weather Service and Grad school. Will is excited to join the board as the historian for this year. Will is from Holtwood, PA, a small town that is near the mason-dixon line. Will spends most of his free time playing for the baseball team at Lyndon, but in the off-season, you can find him in the gym or working games for the other sports teams. Other than baseball, Will enjoys hiking, video games, and just spending time looking at the weather. Will can’t wait to be on this year’s board and contribute to another successful year!
Club Representative – Andy Mckeen
Andy is excited to be joining the executive board of the VTSU-Lyndon Chapter of the AMS & NWA as the club’s student government representative. Andy is a third-year student in the Atmospheric Sciences department concentrating in climate change. Andy is from Barnstable, Massachusetts, and it is here where their passion for weather and climate began at a young age. Living just minutes from the Atlantic in an environmentally sensitive area allowed Andy to see firsthand the impact of climate change as they occurred. When Andy is not keeping an eye on the local weather and global climate, they enjoy hiking, kayaking, biking, relaxing on the beach, and spending time with family. Andy is looking forward to a great year with the executive board and the rest of the AMS club.
Advisor – Dr. Ari D. Preston
Dr. Preston joined the Atmospheric Sciences faculty in 2017 after earning his Ph.D. in Meteorology from Florida State University. He has enjoyed engaging students in the Lyndon community and getting them excited about the weather by implementing classroom activities that make them apply concepts from the classroom to the real world. For example, first-year students get to examine severe weather case studies using GRLevel2 Analyst in Survey of Meteorology. Dr. Preston also implements GRLevel2 Analyst and the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) into his labs for Remote Sensing.
Dr. Preston recently submitted a paper for publication to the Journal of Geophysical Research. The paper includes results from his work with the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem). Results from the simulated fields show that pollution from distance sources is wrapped into Typhoon Mireille (1991) and subsequently lofted by eyewall convection to the upper troposphere, enhancing concentrations in this region. Dr. Preston plans to continue studying tropical cyclones at NVU-Lyndon with a focus on intensity forecasting.
Dr. Preston also has considerable experience conducting lightning-related research. He closely collaborated with the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron in developing lightning cessation guidance to help improve lightning warnings for America’s space program at NASA Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Dr. Preston will be using the Warning Decision Support System – Integrated Information (WDSS-II) software to continue researching convective storms and lightning at NVU-Lyndon. He plans to test the lightning cessation algorithm that he developed for isolated thunderstorms in Florida on storms in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S.