In a recent letter the AMS wrote, “funding of basic science research is our seed corn for the future…[we must invest] in our future by using a small amount of funding now to support foundational research that has a large and positive impact on how we live tomorrow.” I fully share this conviction, particularly amid today’s constrained funding environment. As a professor at an undergraduate liberal arts institution, I have seen how closely mentored research can transform students who are still defining their intellectual and professional trajectories. Over the past 15 years, I have advised 85 summer and semester-length research opportunities and co-directed the long-running Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) REU program, which offered authentic, cohort-based research experiences to more than 100 students nationwide. These experiences have shown me that undergraduate research is not simply preparation for graduate study; it is a powerful mechanism for building confidence, sharpening judgment, and cultivating scientific identity. I am especially proud to have had 48 undergraduate student co-authors on publications, giving them direct experience with the research process from hypothesis generation to final page proofs. Such investments strengthen scientific literacy while developing the next generation of scientists, educators, communicators, and problem-solvers. Yet undergraduate training must also move beyond the fundamentals of atmospheric science to embrace interdisciplinary perspectives, because many of the most consequential 21st-century challenges will arise at disciplinary intersections. If elected to the AMS Council, I would work across the community to expand interdisciplinary research opportunities for undergraduate students in atmospheric and related sciences and to create additional venues for them to present their work, exchange ideas, and build cross-generational networks. These students are the future of our community, and strengthening this pipeline is, in the fullest sense, an investment in our future.

Nicholas Metz is Professor of Geoscience and Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Development at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS). A synoptic and mesoscale meteorologist, he earned a B.S. in meteorology from Valparaiso University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in atmospheric science from the University at Albany.

During 15 years at HWS, Metz has taught more than one thousand students in introductory and advanced meteorology courses. Because many enter his classes with interests beyond atmospheric science, his teaching emphasizes interdisciplinary connections across the liberal arts curriculum. To extend learning beyond the classroom, he has led field experiences on the Big Island of Hawai?i and across the Midwest, using direct observation to animate core meteorological concepts. He has also mentored more than 85 undergraduates through authentic research projects that span hypothesis development, data collection, analysis, and dissemination, many centered on high-impact weather events accessible to early-career students. In addition, he co-directed the Northeast Partnership for Atmospheric and Related Sciences (NEPARS) REU program, a collaboration between HWS and Plymouth State University that supported more than 100 students. As Associate Provost, he now oversees the HWS summer research program across all disciplines, expanding participation from 70 to 120 students per year while increasing student compensation.

Metz was recently selected for the 2026–27 Council of Independent Colleges Senior Leadership Academy. His administrative leadership and long tenure as a professor at a small liberal arts institution committed to interdisciplinary education gives him a distinctive perspective on atmospheric science and on preparing the next generation of scientists.

That perspective is grounded in a lifelong fascination with weather, which began in childhood with daily check-ins on the Weather Channel to track severe storms unfolding across the country.