All chapters are encouraged to share their activities and other interesting events with other AMS members through the Local Chapter Affairs Newsletter as well as the "Chapter Channel" Section of the AMS Bulletin (BAMS).
Guidelines for submitting chapter news
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Iowa State University Chapter members observe data collection from a wind profiler as well as prepare and launch a weather balloon during a visit from Bill Brown of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
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We’re also still interested in articles about innovative ideas chapters have for outreach, for helping local students, for enhancing their local meteorological community, for promoting science, and making a better chapter in general. Depending on content, these can still work within 45 Beacon, the local chapter newsletter, and the AMS blog or Facebook page. Unusually interesting talks that hold potential for the BAMS Nowcast section can be discussed with the BAMS news editors.
You may find that a photo submitted to the Newsletter may also be suitable for the Chapter Channel section of BAMS.
Example:
California University of Pennsylvania’s (Cal U) Seventh Annual StormFest was held on February 21st and 22nd. StormFest is an educational outreach event put on by the Southwest Pennsylvania Chapter of the AMS geared toward teaching children and their families about meteorology and earth sciences through hands-on activities. The event took place at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA. On Friday, there were 14 activities that were staffed by around 30 volunteers from the chapter. Many children came to visit on school field trips. This year, StormFest took part in the Carnegie Science Center’s 21+ Night where adults were able to learn and enjoy the activities. Saturday, February 22nd was the main event featuring 34 activities with over 60 volunteers. The volunteers were students from the Southwest PA chapter, the Ohio University AMS chapter, the Cal U Geology club, the Cal U GIS club, the Cal U Parks and Rec. club, and Alpha Sigma Tau sorority. Saturday’s event featured Meteorologist Nick Walker from The Weather Channel who performed two “Weather Dude” shows. Nick also signed autographs and engaged with the public. The Pittsburgh National Weather Service volunteered on Saturday with an activity geared toward weather safety. Dennis Bowman, a broadcast meteorologist from Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV, had a table set up with a home-made tornado machine. Attendees both days had the chance to complete a certain number of activities to earn a free StormFest t-shirt. There were over 5,100 attendees between Friday and Saturday. This was another successful year for the event. |
If a chapter has been awarded Chapter of the Year or Honor Roll status, icons indicating such will be included next to photos and/or write-ups for the calendar year following receipt of the award.
We will not accept the following submissions for publication in either the Chapter Channel Section of BAMS or the quarterly Local Chapter Affairs Newsletter:
Chapters should update election results online in their Chapter directory listing each year and other meeting minutes and reports should be circulated to your chapter membership and/or posted to your individual chapter Web site.
Photographs for the Chapter Channel section of BAMS and write-ups for the Local Chapter Affairs Newsletter should be emailed to chaptersinaction@ametsoc.org by the 15th of each month for possible publication.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us:
Chapter Channel: Rachel S. Thomas-Medwid, BAMS News Editor (rthomas@ametsoc.org)
Local Chapter Affairs Newsletter: Jordan Stillman, Member Community Coordinator (jstillman@ametsoc.org)