From the Chair

Dear CCM Colleagues,

It has been a privilege to serve for the past three years on the BCCM, and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as Chair of this board for 2020. I look forward to working with Mark McGinnis, chair-elect for 2020, and the entire CCM Board during this upcoming year. I would especially like to thank the 2019 Chair, Alicia Wasula, for her leadership and the entire BCCM for all of their hard work in 2019.

For those of you who do not know me, I have been a CCM since 1998, and have mainly practiced applied climatology and forensic meteorology part-time in addition to my career at the University of Georgia, where I have been employed since 2001. I am currently the Director of the UGA Weather Network (www.georgiaweather.net), which provides 15-minute weather data for use in agriculture and other applications at 86 stations around the state. I am also married to a meteorologist, Dr. John Knox, who received the AMS Edward N. Lorenz Teaching Excellence Award in 2020. We talk a lot of weather around the dinner table!

As you know, the primary mission of the BCCM is to evaluate applications of candidates and make recommendations for certification to the AMS Commissioner of Professional Affairs. January 2020 was a banner year for oral exams, with thirteen exams given during the course of the Annual AMS meeting held in Boston, MA on the 100th anniversary of the AMS. Of those candidates, nine individuals were recommended for certification by the BCCM. The annual Certification Breakfast was again well attended by both CCMs and CBMs who were in attendance at the meeting.

We were also happy to be able to sponsor a Short Course at the 2020 Annual Meeting entitled "Becoming a Great CCM!" We had an attendance of twenty-two participants, including some current CCMs as well as some aspiring future candidates, and were helped by eight CCM instructors. The short course was a combination of introductory lectures with ample time for breaking out into roundtable discussions on different CCM specialties as well as looking at the mechanics of how to run a CCM business. The short course was well received by all and will be offered again in a few years.

In 2019, the hard work of revamping the written exam was finished (at least for this go-around) and the technical report requirement was updated to a scenario-based consulting essay that will be required of all candidates. In 2020, we will be using our updated written questions and consulting essay requirements for all new applicants and will be evaluating how well they capture the knowledge and breadth of experience that we expect of our CCM candidates. In addition to the ongoing work of the BCCM to evaluate new candidates for CCM recognition, we will be looking for new and quicker ways to move candidates through the certification process, including the potential for oral exams through Zoom conferences and more regional examinations. I expect this to generate a lot of lively discussion at our next Board meeting later in March!

The BCCM will also be conducting a review of the slide show that is currently used to evaluate the "core meteorological knowledge" and oral communication skills of candidates during the oral exam. Although CCMs practice in a wide range of fields and have varied areas of expertise, it is agreed that there is a set of basic "core knowledge" principles that every meteorologist should know. We will be reviewing the slide show to ensure that the questions asked during the oral exam reflect that baseline level of knowledge and do not require a candidate to answer questions that may be outside of their area of expertise. We also hope to expand the choice of slide sets to better reflect the breadth of experience we find in our candidates.

One of the primary tasks assigned to the BCCM is the adjudication of the Henry T. Harrison Award for achievement by a consulting meteorologist. The award "was established to recognize a consulting meteorologist for outstanding contributions to the profession, clients, and society. Nominees should demonstrate expertise in weather or climate and their applications, adherence to ethical behavior, and a high level of service to clients and/or the weather and climate enterprise." Nominations are due to the AMS by May 1. Please consider nominating a fellow CCM for this honor.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns at pnknox@yahoo.com. As a reminder, if you are interested in being considered for a Board position in the future, please contact either me or the chair-elect, Mark McGinnis. I look forward to working with you in 2020!

Pam Knox (CCM #587)

Chair, Board of Certified Consulting Meteorologists

American Meteorological Society