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AMS Resources and Response to the Federal Science Crisis
I am honored to be considered for the AMS Executive Council representing the Government Sector. Throughout my career in government service, I have seen firsthand the pressures that federal budget uncertainties, evolving policy landscapes, and operational constraints place on environmental professionals. These challenges underscore how essential collaboration, standardization, and professional community truly are to sustaining the quality and integrity of our work.
My service on the American Nuclear Society Standards Board and the Environmental and Siting Consensus Committee has given me the unique opportunity to work alongside regulators, national laboratories, public and private industry partners, and fellow scientists committed to improving environmental and energy-related standards. My work supporting ANSI/ANS-3.11 has illustrated how thoughtful meteorological guidance directly improves decision-making and safeguards communities. These experiences have reinforced my belief that standards development is a powerful mechanism for advancing both scientific rigor and cross-sector collaboration.
As a Certified Consulting Meteorologist and an associate member of the Association of Certified Meteorologists, I have also had the privilege of serving twice on the Board of Certified Consulting Meteorologists. In that role, I heard many stories from professionals across the weather, water, and climate enterprise who view certification not only as a mark of excellence, but as a source of stability during times of employment uncertainty. These conversations highlighted the importance of supporting a strong, resilient professional community, one where credentials, mentorship, and peer engagement help individuals navigate change.
If elected to the Executive Council, I will work to elevate the visibility of opportunities for government-sector professionals to collaborate with colleagues across industry, academia, and national laboratories; strengthen AMS’s role in supporting and advancing standards that underpin environmental operations and energy-sector decision-making; and promote certifications, professional development, and community support as vital tools for resilience in an era of uncertainty. I am committed to fostering a more connected and empowered AMS community so that all members, across every sector, can continue to make meaningful contributions to society.
I would be grateful for your support.
Jennifer M. Call is a Senior Program Manager, Environmental Compliance for Environmental Performance & Support at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), where she oversees the TVA Environmental Management System and leads cross-organizational initiatives that strengthen environmental stewardship, regulatory compliance, and organizational resilience. A Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM #674), Call has more than fifteen years of experience supporting TVA’s Environment & Sustainability organization. Her background spans meteorology, environmental management, systems engineering, and quality systems leadership.
Call holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Geosciences from Mississippi State University. Her early career included air quality forecasting, meteorological monitoring design, NEPA documentation, and nuclear licensing support. She has a proven ability to digest complex regulations and apply these to varying industries and business units, and is known for translating technical topics into clear, accessible communication for diverse audiences.
In addition to her leadership roles at TVA, Call has led emergency preparedness efforts, managed major environmental and quality management reviews, and guided teams through ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 compliance.
Call also serves the broader profession through extensive industry leadership. She has held multiple roles within the American Nuclear Society (ANS), including current Vice-Chair of the Standards Board and past chair of the Environmental and Siting Consensus Committee (ESCC) Atmospheric Subcommittee, and has served twice on the AMS Board of Certified Consulting Meteorologists (BCCM), including once as BCCM Chair. She is also an associate member of the Association of Certified Meteorologists (ACM).
The availability of new AI tools, unprecedented budget challenges, and extreme weather events threaten our community's livelihoods, resource availability, and safety. We are feeling the pressure from these challenges and changes in our personal and professional lives. To navigate these rough waters, our AMS community must rise together to harness new technologies, support each other as the roles of private, government, academic sectors shift, and boldly move forward, focusing on the opportunities and actions that ensure science, our members, and society not only survive, but thrive.
As a federal and academic employee for 30 years, I’ve experienced life-changing technological advancements, swings in funding, and life-threatening disasters, like the devastating May 31, 2013, El Reno tornado, which killed 8 people, including scientists in our field. I’ve also experienced the power of our combined efforts as we’ve weathered these storms.
If elected to the AMS Council, I will focus on three things: 1) prioritize education opportunities and career guidance to ensure our continued relevance, 2) identify new funding resources to strengthen our mission, and 3) leverage our diverse expertise to empower community resilience to extreme weather threats.
The success of our Society, the trusted source for weather, water, and climate science information that serves society, depends on us. My commitment is to work with you to identify and walk the paths forward to ensure AMS leadership in science and service to society thrives.
Dr. Pam Heinselman works at the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), where she serves as the Deputy Director for Science, leading and championing NSSL’s collaborative science portfolio. She is also an AMS Fellow (2024) and co-chair for the 2025 AMS Annual Meeting Overall Planning Committee. Her love for the NOAA and AMS missions, meteorology, and for people drives her dedication to advancing science in service to society. Throughout her career, she has a rich history of collecting weather observations, developing new forecast tools, and conducting user-focused research to revolutionize forecast capabilities.
Heinselman’s career spans academic and government sectors, working first as a Research Scientist at the University of Oklahoma, Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies and then at NSSL, where she has served as Warn-on-Forecast Program Lead and Forecast Research and Development Division Chief. She also enjoys working with students as an Affiliate Associate Professor of the University of Oklahoma’s School of Meteorology. She is a recipient of the DOC Gold Medal for Science and Engineering (2024) and the National Weather Association’s Dr. T. Theodore Fujita Research Achievement Award (2021). Currently, she is a committee member at large of the AMS Publications Commission and member of the AMS Annual Meeting Oversight Committee. Driven by a childhood fear of thunderstorms and a commitment to providing forecasters with more precise and timely data, she is passionate about severe storms research and the creation of innovative technologies and prediction systems designed to bridge existing forecast information gaps.
As I look at the future of our field, I believe the American Meteorological Society faces a defining moment as artificial intelligence transforms weather and climate science. To successfully navigate this transition, we must confront several pressing hurdles across our enterprise:
By uniting our community around better data, improved federal collaboration, and rigorous science including effective use of AI, we can ensure our efforts truly protect the public. I look forward to working with AMS to provide meetings and forums for the community to build a strong path forward.
David McCarren is a multidisciplinary scientist, policy leader with over thirty years of experience in complex organizations specializing in oceanography and meteorology. His expertise spans the government, public, and business sectors, with a focus on the effects, impacts, risks and decision support associated with these environmental sciences.
Throughout his career, McCarren has demonstrated strong leadership in strategy development, managing personnel, technology, finances and development of guidance and forecast products. His professional background includes serving as the Chief Scientist for the Oceanographer of the Navy, where he coordinated S&T and R&D across the Navy METOC enterprise, supporting all aspects of Navy Information Warfare. He also served in leadership roles as the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, and as Modeling Lead for the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.
McCarren’s experience extends to managing complex research programs, as evidenced by his time as Assistant Director at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and Executive Director of the Delaware Sea Grant College Program. Throughout his tenure at the Federal Coordinator's Office and his work with the National Earth System Prediction Capability (National ESPC), he played a central role in strategic policy development and inter-agency coordination to unify operational and research efforts. He possesses deep scientific knowledge in areas such as atmospheric and ocean sciences, numerical modeling, remote sensing, and geospatial systems. McCarren holds an MS in Physical Oceanography and Meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School and a BS in Geological Science from the Pennsylvania State University.
He continues to remain active, supporting Axiom Consulting (a WOSB) in efforts across government. In his free time he handles the manure management issues for their horses at Prevailing Winds Farm.