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AMS Resources and Response to the Federal Science Crisis
I am running for AMS Council to make the AMS an organization that represents and supports the underserved weather community, ensuring that the AMS represents ALL of its members and those that should be members. To flourish, AMS needs to grow by including those who now feel unrepresented.
As a retired Air Force officer and Federal Aviation Administration employee, I know there are almost 7,000 military meteorologists and oceanographers, and the vast majority are not AMS members. Furthermore, while AMS has many National Weather Service employees as members, numerous other meteorologists and weather support personnel throughout the federal government and aviation community aren’t members.
I will work to change this.
As a Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM), I know firsthand the value of the AMS certification programs. Whether you’re a CCM, a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist, a Certified AMS Teacher, or a Certified Digital Meteorologist, you should be proud to be associated with the AMS. I pledge to be a voice for these groups and their ideals, and promote these programs within and outside of AMS.
We are now in a period of change and challenge for the AMS. Large numbers of those in the weather and climate community are not AMS members or participants in AMS activities. To ensure the survival of AMS, the association must grow and become more inclusive of our community, as well as provide outreach and be a beacon of scientific knowledge to the general population.
If elected I will work tirelessly to represent all members, bring in new members, and ensure the Society promotes excellence in weather, climate, and water.
Randall (Randy) G. Bass has over 35 years of weather experience spanning the military, private and commercial industry, and government. He obtained the Certified Consulting Meteorologist designation through AMS in 2014, and in 2015 started Bass Weather Services, specializing in business consulting, expert witness testimony, and forecasting support. He provides advice, subject matter expertise, and research on current and planned activities to businesses in all aspects of the commercial and government weather enterprise. Randy has also assisted in over 50 legal cases, determining if weather was a factor in litigation, and if so, the extent of the impact of weather for such incidents as accidents, structural damage, and even criminal investigations.
Mr. Bass began his career as an Air Force weather officer, retiring in 2008. He provided weather support to bases and military aircraft throughout the US, including three deployments overseas in support of contingency operations, and spent almost half his career supporting the Intelligence Community and satellite operations.
From 2008 until 2012, Randy was a Senior Meteorologist for ITT Exelis (now L3Harris) in Herndon, VA. He researched prospective opportunities and developed business case analyses for weather, aviation, and space programs and pursuits.
In 2012 Mr. Bass joined the Federal Aviation Administration, retiring in November, 2024. He oversaw the Convective Weather Research Program and managed the Weather Research Branch before being named the manager of the Aviation Weather Division in 2022. He led a team of 30+ personnel and a $20+M budget formulating requirements, managing applied research projects, and transitioning successful research projects into operations to minimize the impact of weather on aviation.
Randy earned his BS in Meteorology from North Carolina State University and his MS in Meteorology from Texas A&M University. He lives in Waynesboro, VA with his wife Amy.
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.
Our Society is facing ever-changing headwinds. However, with crises comes opportunities and transformations. As a volunteer Society, *we* are AMS. When I hear AMS members say “AMS should…” my hope is to empower them to get involved and make the changes they wish to see. At current, I believe three challenges facing the Society are the following:
AMS’s finances and business model: Our Society has historically brought much of its funding from journal subscription, and in recent years, those have been in jeopardy. Membership and conference registration fees are already high. If elected, I will work with other Councilors to continue focus on expanded partnerships and alternative funding sources so that fees to participate in AMS are not prohibitive for members, particularly early career members.
Adaptation to constant political and economic winds: 2025 has been a year of rapid changes which forced students, employees, and employers from across the weather, water, and climate enterprise to adapt. In future years, the weather, water, and climate community must remain resilient and adaptable to political winds, particularly when funding sources dry up or change sectors. For this reason, I will commit to working with other AMS Councilors to understand AMS members’ needs by taking regular pulses on the membership via surveys and town halls.
Workforce recruitment and security: Technology is enabling more research and faster forecasting and will only continue to be an enabling factor rather than a job-replacer if we allow it. We as a Society should understand the workforce gaps within our enterprise and which communities would benefit from targeted recruitment. From this understanding, we should aim to attract and recruit from K-12 populations via local chapters and provide up-to-date advice to students on job security. I am committed to investing in future leaders of the weather, water, and climate enterprise.
Aaron J. Piña, Ph.D. has been a weather enthusiast since Hurricane Bret threatened his Texas hometown in 1999 and an AMS member since 2010. As the National Program Leader for Atmospheric Sciences and Fire Weather Research at the USDA Forest Service, he leads science, technology, and science policy related to fire weather and smoke research. Piña earned a B.Sc. degree in Meteorology from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Ecology from Colorado State University.
Piña has been active with AMS activities and governance since 2011, beginning when he took on the role of organizing the annual Coriolis reception of LGBTQ AMS members and allies. From 2019-2022, he was the Chair of the Board on Women and Minorities which was renamed during his tenure to the Board on Representation, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity (BRAID). Recently, Piña served on the Committee on Ethics (2022-2025) and an ad-hoc Committee on AMS Constitution and Bylaws (2022), and he currently serves on the Culture and Inclusion Cabinet and the AI Ethics & Policy Committee. He is also a non-resident AMS Policy Fellow.
Piña began his professional career in 2017 working at a start-up company, Aeris LLC, as a transport and dispersion modeling subject matter expert. In 2019, he joined NASA Headquarters as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow and a Deputy Program Scientist in the Earth Science Division.
In 2023, Piña joined the USDA Forest Service, and in addition to his office duties, he connects research to operations and operations back to research by working on smoke modeling and effects as an Air Resource Advisor assigned to wildfire incidents. His professional interests include air quality effects on human and ecosystem health, science policy and management, and STEM inclusion, particularly focusing on recruiting and retaining scientists, practitioners, and enthusiasts from historically underrepresented backgrounds.