Tanja E. Fransen

Tanja E. Fransen

AMS is an amazing organization, and as with many professional societies, communications and mem­bership often present challenges. I’ve seen huge strides by AMS to improve communication with new tools and technologies. What I’d like to see is a way to better connect our 13,000 members, across the enterprise and across generations. How do we best attract millennials, and communicate with them? How do we take the talent of our seasoned members and use that to mentor and network so we learn from each other? For a few short years I dropped my membership to the AMS. I was out of college, starting a career, bills to pay, kids to clothe and feed, and I wasn’t really sure why a membership was important to me. What I didn’t consider at the time was the networking and mentoring that AMS offered. At­tending my first Annual Meeting showed me the incredible talent and enthusiasm beyond my own sandbox. It was exciting to see the great research, operational best practices, and innovation of our members! My connections made through AMS have given me won­derful opportunities to interact and collaborate with the diverse membership, and I’d like to see that for all our members. Too often, new members, regardless of age and career, do not see all that AMS has to offer them. Annual Meetings are a great opportunity, but only about 25% of the membership directly benefits each year. Finding ways to connect members outside of conferences is something I would love to be a part of. If elected to serve, I would like to help AMS do that through continual improve­ments to how we connect people, as well as help grow the membership through outreach, mentoring, and networking. Thank you for this incredible opportunity to serve you, and make a difference.

Fransen, Tanja E.  Meteorologist in Charge, NOAA/NWS Glasgow, Montana.  Born Oct 23, 1973, in Weiden, Germany.  Bachelor’s Degree in Earth Science:  Meteorology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado, 1995.

Professional Experience: Meteorologist in Charge, NOAA/NWS Glasgow, MT, 2015;  Warning Coordination Meteorologist, NOAA/NWS Glasgow, MT, 2001; General Forecaster, NOAA/NWS Rapid City, SD, 1998, Meteorologist Intern, NOAA/NWS Bismarck, ND, 1996, Meteorologist Intern, NOAA/NWS Williston, ND, 1995,  Student Intern, NOAA/NWS Cheyenne, WY, 1994, volunteer Fire Fighter and EMS, 1988. 

Professional Activities:  NWS Skywarn Program Co-Lead, 2009-current; Fellow of the NCAR Weather and Society*Integrated Studies (WAS*IS) program 2005-current;  Chairperson of the Montana EAS Committee 2014-2016; NOAA Education Council Representative 2013-2015; NOAA/NWS Networking and Mentoring Program 2013-2015; NWS Recruitment and Retention Team, 2015; Valley County Local Emergency Preparedness Committee Vice-Chair 2014-2015; City of Glasgow, MT Levee Committee Chairperson 2015; Invited Guest WeatherBrains podcasts 2010, 2013; Natural Hazards Conference Session Chair, 2010; Invited Speaker to International Association of Emergency Managers Annual Conference 2010 and 2007.

AMS Activities: AMS member 1995-current; Co-Chair, AMS Committee on Emergency Management, 2014-current;  Writing Team for Large Venue Events, current;  Conference Chairperson/Co-Chairperson Major Weather Impacts, 2008-current; Co-Chair Town Hall Meeting:  Hurricane and Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy:  Predictions, Warnings, Societal Impacts and Response Part II, Annual Meeting 2014; Chairperson Town Hall Meeting:  Hurricane and Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy:  Predictions, Warnings, Societal Impacts and Response Part 1, Annual Meeting 2013; Review team member  to recommend Space Weather as a Committee in the STAC , 2009;  Board member, AMS Board of Societal Impacts, 2007-2012; AMS Student Conference Planning Committee/Presenter 2007, 2009; President, Black Hills AMS Chapter, 2000; President, Lakota AMS Chapter, 1998; Vice-President Southeast Wyoming AMS Chapter, 1994-1995.

Honors and Awards:   WxGeeks, Geek of the Week, April 2015; AMS Kenneth C Spengler Award, 2014;  NOAA Administrators Award 2011, NWS Western Region Isaac Cline Award for Outreach, 2011; Montana’s Hero for the Day by US Senator Max Baucus, 2011; Montana Governor’s Pin for Outstanding Community Service 2002; NWS Isaac Cline Award for Leadership 2002, NWS Western Region Isaac Cline Award for Leadership, 2002.

Publications:  Fransen, Tanja, R Smith, J Jans, and C Maier. "Skywarn: Current Updates and Future Opportunities." AMS Annual Conference 2015. 5 Jan 2015. American Meteorological Society; Fransen, Tanja, K Frank, W Martin, and L Kalkstein. "A Billion Dollars a Year: Mitigating Livestock Losses with the Cold Advisory for Newborn Livestock." AMS Annual Conference 2014. 4 Feb 2014. American Meteorological Society. 

Fransen, Tanja, C Maier, and J Jans. Poster. "The Modernization of the NWS SKYWARN® Weather Spotter Program - Making Advances through Education, Technology and Partnerships" AMS Annual Conference 2013. 10 Jan 2013. American Meteorological Society.


K. Frank and T. Fransen, C. Bogel, D. Simonsen, T. Salem and L. Kalkstein, 2008: The feasibility of an extreme cold warning system for livestock in northeastern Montana. Abstract, Thorpex Symposium on Linkages among Societal Benefits, Prediction Systems and Process Studies for 1-14 day Weather Forecasts, American Meteorological Society, New Orleans, LA, Amer. Meteor. Soc 

T. Fransen and O. Wilhelmi 2007: Increasing societal resilience to winter weather. Preprint: 16th Conference on Applied Climatology, San Antonio, TX Amer. Meteor. Soc 

M. Rawles, and T. Fransen, J. Adolphson, and T. Salem, 2006: Using GIS to improve real-time severe weather verification. Preprints, 22nd International Conference on Interactive Information Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. Soc 

T. Fransen, T Salem, 2006: Winter WES Case in Northeastern Montana with Changes in Weather by Elevation [Available online at: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/wrh/talite0605.pdf]

Adolphson, J; C. Bogel, T. Fransen, G. Forrester, T. Jamba, M. Rawles, T. Salem, D. Secora, B. Temeyer, G. Loss, T. Gurss, and M. Tunnicliff, 2005: Minor flooding on the Milk River after an extreme winter in northeast Montana. Preprints, AMS Forum: Living with a Limited Water Supply, San Diego, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc. 

D. Erasmus, T. Henson (Fransen), K. Monahan, 1996: Meteorological conditions accompanying high pollution periods in Greeley, Colorado. Preprints, 10th Conference on Application of Air Pollution Meteorology, Atlanta, GA Amer. Meteor. Soc.