Our society stands at a crossroads, facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities in a landscape transformed by diversity, innovation, and technological advancements. As we navigate this new era, we are united by a commitment to open science, balanced with the strategic use of proprietary methods, and propelled by emerging technologies. I believe the AMS Council must prioritize the following:

Evolving the AMS Business Model: Our historic reliance on funding from subscriptions for journals and publications is presenting significant risk to the financial foundation of our Society. I believe that our Council should advocate for and align behind our Executive Director and AMS team to optimize our business model. In addition to managing expenses, we must also grow funding from new and expanded corporate partnerships, agency-funded grants, philanthropic contributions, and meetings. Studying successful models from other societies and nonprofits can help us adapt our funding strategies for sustainability. One example could be adopting our sponsorship models to be more attractive to corporate partners and philanthropists. 

Strengthening Sector Partnerships: The dynamics between private, academic, and government sectors have shifted over the past decade. I believe that our Council should focus on reinforcing AMS's role as a neutral host for intra-sector collaboration on topics such as commercial weather data, AI/ML advancements, open science, and open data access.

Enhancing Meeting Effectiveness: To maximize the value of AMS meetings for our members, I believe that our Council must clearly define the pressing and strategic issues of our members and then encourage new meeting formats such as breakouts, discussions, and lightning talks. I believe that our Council should champion a more flexible approach to meetings, allowing us to respond dynamically to the emerging priorities of our constituents.

Bridging the Knowledge Gap for Early Career Professionals: Many job opportunities for early career professionals are in the private sector, but many universities are not well equipped to help students explore these career paths. Initiatives like AMS "Mind the Gap" (which has been funded by the National Science Foundation but managed within the AMS) highlight the need to improve awareness of private sector career paths. I believe our Council should advocate for enhanced educational programs to prepare students for careers across multiple sectors.

By addressing these challenges, we can ensure AMS remains at the forefront, fostering collaboration, innovation, and excellence. The Council's role in governing these efforts and aligning them with our objectives is critical. I am committed to building a resilient future for AMS, ensuring our actions reflect our principles and advance our goals effectively.

Stephen (Steve) Bennett, J.D., has spent over 25 years connecting climate change and extreme weather to financial applications. As the Chief Scientist and co-founder of Demex, he leads efforts to deploy innovative reinsurance programs for severe convective storms (SCS). Steve's career spans meteorology, law, and finance, with experience at The Weather Channel, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Citadel.

Steve began his professional journey as a meteorologist in media before transitioning into commodity trading. At Enron and Citadel, he focused on the financial impact of extreme weather and natural disasters, applying weather intelligence to markets in energy, agriculture, insurance, reinsurance, and equities investing.

In 2008, Steve joined Scripps at UC San Diego to build initiatives between Scripps and the Von Leibig Center for Entrepreneurship. He helped spin-out and start-up several companies seeded with Scripps/UCSD technology. Steve also developed “Climate Change and Business” executive education programs with the Rady School of Management and continues to lead an annual workshop for cohorts in the Master’s of Applied Studies program at Scripps. 

Steve co-founded Riskpulse in 2015, developing software to identify weather and climate risks to global supply chains and creating training programs for companies like Apple, ABInBev, and 7-Eleven. He has worked with global leaders in reinsurance and risk management to adapt financial and insurance coverage for climate resilience. He has provided expert commentary on these topics for media outlets, including CNBC, Forbes, Bloomberg, and Reuters.

In addition to his role at Demex, Steve is also currently involved with several AMS initiatives. He chairs the AMS Forum on Climate Linked Economics and serves on several AMS committees, including Finance, Mind the Gap, and Board on Higher Education. He also participates in the American Bar Association’s Committee on Climate Change.

Steve holds a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of South Alabama and a J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Law. His diverse background provides a unique perspective on managing complex issues at the intersection of science, law, and finance.