Uncertainty with the federal government budget has long challenged the AMS. Many may remember missing government colleagues and affiliates from a past AMS meeting due to a government shutdown, or, going further back, sequestration. Now, government employees are finding it a challenge to cover an abstract submission, let alone journal publication fees.

Changes in government priorities this year have left some if not many AMS members who work in the federal government, for a government contractor, or at a university, unsure about whether their work is valued, whether they will continue to have a job, and what their next opportunity, or even entire career path, might look like as our enterprise evolves with this shift.

These concerns are deeply personal for me, and I know for many AMS members. I have told many of my colleagues that the effects of this shift have been at times unexpected, and will be felt unevenly. I hope all AMS members know that negative personal and professional outcomes that result are not a reflection of individual merit or the worth of their contributions, as confining as the situation can seem.

It might sound cliché, but at its core, the AMS is about people. It’s about connecting people; and it’s about connecting people to science, then applying that science to further applications for the benefit of society.

The AMS has leaned into this conversation to explain the value of the weather, water, and climate enterprise to our nation. The AMS will need to maximize flexibilities and lower the barrier to entry for members to attend meetings in the short-term, whether virtual or in person. We should expect an increase in AMS members and meeting participants beyond students and early career professionals seeking new employment. And for students who had anticipated a career in government, the AMS should be positioned to provide access to professional networks that help them reconsider other potential meaningful career options within the field.

All of this will happen with the backdrop of post-pandemic trends in travel and conference attendance, and members seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. Mindful of its own budget and the needs of AMS members, the AMS is embracing a revised strategy for hosting meetings and assuring they remain accessible and affordable. Hopefully these measures pull our enterprise together because the collective contributions and strengths of government, academia, and industry, including partnerships thereof, increase our individual value, and benefit us as a whole.

Jordan J. Gerth, Ph.D., has 20 years of experience developing weather satellite systems and applications working in government and academia. He is the chief of the Architecture Planning and System Innovation branch at the NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Office of Systems Architecture and Engineering (SAE). In this role, he has responsibility for flight and ground architectures and joint venture projects that support environmental satellites for NOAA’s mission, including establishing sensor guidance and concepts of operations for major systems.

Gerth started his post-graduate career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) and Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), where he led the initial development of the open-source Satellite Information Familiarization Tool (SIFT), which is now internationally used visualization software for geostationary satellite imagery. He also developed a short residence course for National Weather Service (NWS) Science and Operations Officers (SOOs) ahead of the first satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series (GOES-R) becoming operational in 2016. In 2019, he brought his satellite expertise to the National Weather Service Office of Observations, where he oversaw the integration of satellite imagery and science products into NWS operations and led the analysis and prioritization of the agency’s satellite requirements.

He chairs the American Meteorological Society Board on Enterprise Communication and Committee on Radio Frequency Allocations, and is a recurring program co-chair for the AMS Satellite Meteorology, Oceanography, and Climatology conference and Summer Community Meeting, with other previous committee service. He values student mentoring and regularly helps organize networking events.

As a scientist, Gerth has authored and co-authored publications on sky cover, meteorological applications for visible and infrared imagery, and nowcasting. Jordan earned a Ph.D. in atmospheric and oceanic sciences from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he remains an honorary fellow.