• Different sources of weather data
• Basics of how satellites and radar work
• How radars ‘see’ birds, among other things
• Basics of a weather model
• Different types of weather models, e.g the “American” and “European” models

Mark works for the National Weather Service’s Office of Water Prediction (OWP).  At OWP, he’s the Technical Director of the Hyrdological Ensemble Forecast Service, a tool that provides forecast probabilities on rivers and other bodies of water for flood risk management, water supply management, streamflow regulation, recreation planning, and ecosystem management, among other applications.  Prior to his current position, at OWP, Mark led a team that converted dual-pol radar information into precipitation estimates.  Before coming to OWP, he worked at the National Weather Service’s Radar Operations Center, in Oklahoma, enhancing radar weather tracking capabilities.  While in Oklahoma, he went tornado chasing many times and saw one of the strongest tornadoes ever measured (May 3rd, 1999).  Mark started his career at UNISYS adding computer programs to weather radar for tracking severe weather.