Careers spotlight

Guidance for those interested in a career in weather and climate

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A look at some  meteorology graduates 10 and 20 years after graduation – see what the class of 2003 and 2013 are doing: 

Class of 2003

ben suter

Ben Suter

Operations Manager, Forecasts & Warnings

sarah norris

Sarah Norris

Research Manager

Tim Barnes

Tim Barnes

Data Manager

Hugo Rickets

Hugo Ricketts

Research Scientist

Helene Muri

Helene Muri

Climate Researcher

Laura Tobin climate stripes

Laura Tobin

Weather Presenter

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Caroline Bain

Met Office Scientist

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Kgolo Michelson

Post-doc researcher

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Stephen Nash

Research Scientist

Curtis Wood

Curtis Wood

Research Scientist

Duncan Ackerley

Duncan Ackerley

Research Scientist

Jonathan Wilkinson

Research Scientist

Class of 2013

 
Hannah Bloomfield

Hannah Bloomfield

Research Scientist

Matt Waring

Matt Waring

Royal Navy Meteorologist

Kerry Slater

Weather Forecaster

Steven Hart

Steven Hart

Project Manager

Chris Webber

Risk Analysist

Matt Hayden

Oceanographer

Other Meteorologists’ Careers

We have asked a group of meteorologists to talk about their particular training, career and job. The group is very diverse, ranging from a forecaster on Al Jazeera, to the Royal Navy.

Michael Dukes

Forecast General Manager for MeteoGroup UK

Dr Andrew G Marshall - Climate Scientist at the Met Office - Hadley Centre

Dr Andrew G Marshall

Climate Scientist at the Met Office – Hadley Centre

Dr Helen Johnson - Lecturer and Researcher at Oxford University

Dr Helen Johnson

Lecturer and Researcher at Oxford University

Penny Tranter-Meteorology Training Manager at the Met Office

Penny Tranter

Meteorology Training Manager at the Met Office

Fiona Campbell - Meteorologist at the Carbon Trust

Fiona Campbell

Meteorologist at the Carbon Trust

Cdr Derek Swannick - Royal Navy Meteorologist

Cdr Derek Swannick

Royal Navy Meteorologist

Steff Gaulter - Senior Weather Presenter for Al Jazeera English

Steff Gaulter

Senior Weather Presenter for Al Jazeera English

Dr Sylvia Knight

Head of Education Services, Royal Meteorological Society

Prof Liz Bentley - Head of Communications, Royal Meteorological Society

Prof Liz Bentley

Head of Communications, Royal Meteorological Society

Dave McLeod - PhD student

Dave McLeod

PhD student

Prof Andrew Challinor - Lecturer, Leeds University

Prof Andrew Challinor

Lecturer, Leeds University

Heather Ashton – Hydro-Meteorological Forecast Scientist at the Met Office

Heather Ashton

Hydro-Meteorological Forecast Scientist at the Met Office

Ben Suter

Operations Manager, Forecasts & Warnings

What A levels did you do?
Maths, Physics, Geography

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I was obsessed with the weather as a child so it wasn’t a difficult decision for me. I knew that I wanted to be a weather forecaster so the course at Reading was an obvious choice.

What was the best bit of the course?
The best bits for me were the practical, hands on parts of the course. I learnt the most during these sessions and found them more applicable to my long term goal as a forecaster. If I had to choose one bit, it would probably be the field trip!

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
I wanted to be a forecaster so the obvious choice for me to start my career was definitely the Met Office.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
No! The Met Office stopped recruiting new forecasters after I left Reading in 2003, so I did a year and a half of temping agency work (yawn) and then went back to uni at Nottingham to do a Masters in Navigation Technology. Employment began in Cardiff as an air quality consultant in 2006 and then I finally got on to a forecasters course at the Met Office in 2007.

I’ve been a forecaster ever since but moved to Bureau of Meteorology in Cairns, Australia in 2010 and will be taking up a senior forecaster position in Darwin in Oct 2012.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
Write, monitor and amend forecasts for aviation, commercial and infrastructure industries. I have the pleasure of dealing with phone calls and questions from the general public! I also do regular radio broadcasts and ad hoc TV interviews, particularly in the lead up to and during severe weather. I will have management responsibilities in Darwin where I will also be more heavily involved in things like cyclone warnings and volcanic ash advisories.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
In the tropics! I’m hoping to learn a lot more about tropical met over the coming years in Darwin. However, forecasting roles are forever changing with increasing amounts of automation as model data improves, so the forecasting role in 10 years time could be quite different to what it is now.

What is your favourite weather?
Storms! I’ve been tornado chasing in Oklahoma and have witnessed some extreme weather conditions here in Oz. I will shortly be moving to Darwin which is one of the most prone parts of Oz for storms with over 80 thunder days a year! Nice.

What has been your best day at work so far?
Being flown down to Brisbane to continue work after the Cairns office was evacuated in the lead up to Cyclone Yasi on 3-4 Feb 2011. This was an incredibly exciting and high adrenaline few days where a lot was learnt in a short space of time.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
Being flown down to Brisbane to continue work after the Cairns office was evacuated in the lead up to Cyclone Yasi on 3-4 Feb 2011!! Watching the Willis Island radar being knocked out by the cyclone while on shift in Brisbane was worrying (understatement). At that time the cyclone had the potential to cause widespread destruction in Cairns and I was not sure what I would be returning home to. Mixed emotions that day!

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
I’d have to agree with Hugo on this one and say the Burns Day Storm of 1990, simply because this is one of my earliest weather related memories and I’m positive it has a lot to do with why I’m a weather nut today. I remember leaving school that afternoon in a friend’s car, however my school was close to a wooded area and a tree had already fallen trough the school fence into the playground. More trees were coming down on the route back to my friend’s house and I remember cowering in the back of this jeep with her, thinking we were going to get squashed. We got stuck in a traffic jam in the woods, waiting for someone to saw a tree into pieces which had fallen over the road, while all the other trees around us were bending over backwards! Very exciting and scary for an 8 year old!

sarah norris

Sarah Norris

Post-doc researcher

In 2023, 20 years after she graduated, we asked Sarah about her career in Meteorology:


Are you in the same job as in 2013? If not, what has your career path been over the last 10 years? 


In short; No. In 2013 I was a post-doc researcher working at the University of Leeds doing a considerable amount of travelling and field work. In the next couple of years I had 2 children and while I continued to work in research I found it tough to make it work on short fixed term research contracts. I took up a part time project coordinator role managing a large international project between the UK and China for a few years helping me to develop the project management skills I had gained through my research field work. I then moved to become Manager of the University of Leeds cross faculty Global Food and Environment Institute in 2019. I really enjoy this role supporting researchers from a wide range of specialities (climate, agriculture, water, trade, psychology, nutrition) all with a clear focus on impact and aim to support society in moving to a food systems that works with nature, copes with a changing climate and provides everybody with access to safe and nutritious food.
What do you do on a day to day basis with your work?


I support researchers by bringing together members from across academia, industry and public services in workshops, meetings, and funded projects to help them work together to create real change in society. My day-to-day work is organising medium to long term plans that lead to a desired output by working out the best schedule of action including workshops, private meetings, policy briefs, interactions with government,  balancing budgets, attending events, and making new contacts. I lead a team that support our plans by focusing on communication of impacts, writing funding bids and supporting events.


What has been your career highlight over the last 10 years?

My best days at work are when events planned and run by myself and team are successful especially the events that involve large numbers of external participants from industry and public sector. I enjoy the fact I can see the direct impact and success of the work I am supporting and feel very much part of it.


What has been the biggest challenge you’ve experienced in your working life in the last 10 years?  


The biggest challenge for me has been making the decision to step away from active atmospheric research and moving into research support role. In my research career I was designing and building meteorology equipment and then collecting observational data from some of the most remote environments on the planet (Southern Ocean to the North Pole). This involved large amounts of time away from the UK. When I returned from having my first child I struggled to continue with this full time role while juggling family life and a travel. I found the step to project coordination then Institute Manager to not be as different as I expected. I use a lot of the same skills and work with the same people but can do it with a better work life balance.


Where do you see yourself in 2033?


I’m not sure where I will be in 2033 but I’m excited to find out. I’m more confident about moving around with my career so I could be anywhere using the skills I have to have a positive impact on society.


What aspects of your meteorology degree do you still use in a professional capacity? 


I don’t use much from my meteorology degree anymore in my career but I am still proud I completed it as it is my passion and fascination. The undergraduate lead me to my PhD and post doc and they used my undergrad degree a lot. From my PhD and Post doc I gained skills and experience in planning and organising field work, purchasing, and negotiating with international teams and people from across an academic world. Those skills are used a lot in my current career.


What single piece of career advice would you give to someone considering a career in weather or climate?  


It is a fantastic community to be a part of and so important to a wide range of every day life and society challenges. Even though my career has taken me away from central meteorology research I still engage with people I used to do research with at the Met office, NCAS, and research institutes in atmospheric science because we can’t produce food in the UK without considering the water availability, changing climate, and extreme weather events.

Here is what Sarah told us in 2013:

What A levels did you do?
Physics, Maths, Chemistry, General Studies.

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I always had an interest for the weather and especially severe weather so I wanted to combine this interest with my love of science.

What was the best bit of the course?
The enthusiasm of the fellow students and staff.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
For my final year dissertation I worked at the UK Met Office MRF department testing and calibrating a new instrument for the research aircraft. I really enjoyed the combination of hands on instrument work along with the science research so this pushed me into the field of research.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
After completing my Ph.D. at Leeds University I have been a post-doc researcher in the department working on many similar projects.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
My job can be very varied depending on what stage in a research project we are at. The first part is to building, test and calibrating instruments in the laboratory which I then deploy in many locations around the world to collect the data we require. The second part is then to analyse that data to find answers to the research question which I write up in research journals and present at international conferences. The field work part of my job has taken me from the high Arctic ice sheets to Antarctica, and from typhoons in the Pacific Ocean to winter storms off the Outer Hebrides and is defiantly the most exciting part of my job but I do also enjoy analysis of the data and discovering new finds.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
Probably doing the same type of work.

What is your favourite weather?
Big storms, large hail, thunder and lightning are always very exciting but sunset lit Mammatus clouds are my favourite to photograph.

What has been your best day at work so far?
There have been too many to list but experiencing 17 metre waves off the Scottish coast in a UK research ship, taking part in helicopter research flights over the arctic ice pack and going down a glacial crevasse in Antarctica are definitely up there in the top 3.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
There can be frustrating days at work when something isn’t working as it should, either instrument or computer code, but you get lots of satisfaction when you finally fix it. Some people might say working on a ships deck in -5 deg C getting soaked through is a bad day but it is an experience to remember, however miserable, so isn’t really a bad day.

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
It has to be while storm chasing in the USA with Ben Suter and some other friends. We got caught in a big hail storm and the softball size hail damaged the car we were in. That was some storm.

Tim Barnes in Antarctica

Tim Barnes

Data Manager

In 2023, 20 years after he graduated, we asked Tim about his career in meteorology:

Are you in the same job as in 2013? If not, what has your career path been over the last 10 years?
Yes, I am still in the same job as in 2013, albeit with a few changes

What do you do on a day to day basis with your work?
Day to day, I manage datasets for the Atmosphere, Ice and Climate division at BAS. One key task is publishing datasets when scientists publish papers so that readers of the paper can gain access to the data that produced their results. I also work in Operational Data Management which involves bringing the data back from the Antarctic stations, cataloguing it and then ensuring the scientists back at HQ can get access to it.

What has been your career highlight over the last 10 years?
I think one of the big career highlights over the last ten years is my somewhat unexpected trip to Halley Station during the 2017-18 summer season, which was the season after it was relocated due to the cracks in the ice shelf. Way back when I was at primary school, I remember learning all about the ozone layer, the hole etc. Decades later, I got to use a similar instrument to the one that was used to make the initial discovery to make ozone measurements of my own. I even got trained on how to make these observations by none other than one of the scientists on that famous paper, who also happened to be on station at the same time!

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve experienced in your working life in the last 10 years?
I think one of the biggest challenges was my last minute trip to Halley and having to drop everything else I was working on. But that’s the nature of the job!

Where do you see yourself in 2033?
In 2033, knowing me, I’ll probably still be at BAS. Perhaps with some more South trips under my belt. I’d like to experience travelling there on the ships one day, but I’m not sure how well I’d cope!

What aspects of your meteorology degree do you still use in a professional capacity?
I don’t use much meteorology in my professional capacity these days, however last time I was in Antarctica, I was placed on the rota to make routine meteorological observations both for science and for aircraft operations. I have also written and/or contributed to some of the meteorological apps used on station, as well as a couple of met-based Python packages.

How has the field changed since you graduated?
I guess the advent of AI and improving technologies has changed the field quite significantly since I graduated

What single piece of career advice would you give to someone considering a career in weather or climate?
I’d say go for it. There’s so many aspects to meteorology, weather and climate – not just on the science side, but on the technological side too.

Favourite weather memory since 2013?
I was actually on holiday in Florida in September 2022 and unfortunately ended up right in the path of Hurricane Ian. Though it had downgraded to a Category 1 by the time it reached us, it was still a pretty huge storm. Fortunately, my location got off pretty lightly, but unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for other nearby places.

Here is what Tim told us in 2013:

What A levels did you do?
Physics, General Studies, Maths

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I’ve always been interested in meteorology

What was the best bit of the course?
The other students (and the departmental pub crawls!)

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
My first job out of Uni was working at an Argos store. It’s not as if I chose that career path on purpose!

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
It certainly wasn’t easy to find a job. However, I’m pleased to say that my Argos time was short and I’m now at British Antarctic Survey

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
I’m a data manager, so I make sure the science data comes back from the Antarctic and then make sure the scientists back here get the data they want. It also involves the occasional trip south from time to time!

What is your favourite weather?
A bright and sunny day, but with temperatures just above freezing. In essence, a typical summer’s day at the Rothera Research Station in the Antarctic.

What has been your best day at work so far?
The day I arrived in Antarctica.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
The day I left Antarctica.

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
Singaporean rain. When it rains, it doesn’t just pour. It deluges the likes of which I’ve never seen!

Hugo Ricketts

Hugo Ricketts

Research Scientist

In 2023, 20 years after graduating, we asked Hugo some questions about his career in meteorology so far:

Are you in the same job as in 2003? If not, what has your career path been over the last 10 years?
I’ve been working as an Instrument Scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science for the last 15 years.

What do you do on a day to day basis with your work?
I maintain and develop the atmospheric measurement equipment that is available for the community to borrow for experiments. This includes radiosondes, lidars and drones. At the moment, I’m leading a project to upgrade the aerosol lidar on the UK’s FAAM atmospheric research aircraft, which has been pretty exciting!

What has been your career highlight over the last 10 years?
I appeared on BBC Click to talk about a citizen science project, in which participants could use their smartphones to measure air pollution.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve experienced in your working life in the last 10 years?
Within academia it has become a lot harder to find a secure job, so it has been hard to see so many close colleagues and friends move away into industry.

Where do you see yourself in 2033?
I’d like to still be working in atmospheric science. There are still many questions that need to be answered.

What aspects of your meteorology degree do you still use in a professional capacity?
A lot of the equipment I use measures meteorological data. And when I do research, I’m interested in long-range transport of air pollution.

How has the field changed since you graduated?
Meteorological instrumentation has advanced quite substantially. One of the exciting developments is the use of drones for measurements.

What single piece of career advice would you give to someone considering a career in weather or climate?
Go for it! I think it’s become increasingly important in the last 20 years.

Favourite weather memory since 2013?
When ex-hurricane Ophelia transported a large plume of Portuguese forest fire smoke and Saharan dust over the UK in October 2017. Ophelia brought some unseasonably warm air and the plume of smoke and dust turned the sun a dark orange. It was a very strange experience.

 

Here is what Hugo told us in 2013:

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I’ve always been interested in meteorology

What was the best bit of the course?
The fellow students!

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
I liked the idea of research, so academia seemed right.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
Fairly easy and yes.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
Lidar research of the atmosphere (Lidar is like radar, but uses lasers instead of radio waves).

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
Breaking and fixing lasers :-).

What is your favourite weather?
Windy enough to break some good waves along the coast.

What has been your best day at work so far?
When i found the mistake in some computer code.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
When I came back from a field project and someone else was sat at my desk :-).

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
The Burns Day Storm 1990.

Helene Muri

Helene Muri

Climate Researcher

In 2023, 20 years after she graduated, we asked Helene some questions about her career in meteorology so far:

Are you in the same job as in 2013? If not, what has your career path been over the last 10 years?
I have moved to work at another university since 2013. I made the conscious decision to do more applied research into mitigation options for industry, considering the urgent need to decarbonize to address climate change. I am now a Research Professor in climate change at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. I work more closely with industry, to find ways to reduce emissions.

What do you do on a day to day basis with your work?
On an average day I am supervising people in my group including masters and PhD students, and post-docs. I might do a bit of writing of scientific articles, policy advice, or project proposals. Or indeed some code. I often give presentations that may require some preparation too.

What has been your career highlight over the last 10 years?
Maybe handing over the IPCC Special Report on the 1.5C target to the Minister of climate and environment.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve experienced in your working life in the last 10 years?
Saving myself whilst saving the planet: attending e.g., the COP meetings and being involved with the IPCC can be rather exhausting and I really need to make sure to get enough rest. And living with threats and online abuse because of my work can be a bit hard at times. But it is worth it.

Where do you see yourself in 2033?
I aim to continue to do my share to try to make a positive change in society when it comes to climate change.

What aspects of your meteorology degree do you still use in a professional capacity?
I still use a lot of the science that I learned in my degree. For instance, I look at how different types of aerosol and gases emitted from shipping and aviation affect clouds and radiation, and land – atmosphere feedbacks when assessing sustainable biofuel production pathways. I am working with climate models, and my meteorological background is so useful when handling these tools.

How has the field changed since you graduated?
The acceleration of climate change has changed a lot of the focus within the field, out of necessity of course. The weather is changing with the climate. And we need to continue to work on our understanding of how and why. And how to respond to that. So now adaptation and mitigation are more even closely linked to the meteorological side, I think.

What single piece of career advice would you give to someone considering a career in weather or climate?
Cultivate an interdisciplinary mindset and be open to the wide range of opportunities that comes with this career pathways these days; from developing visualisations and narratives for weather and climate communication, to engaging with policymakers, and to doing basic research.

Favourite weather memory since 2013?
A light snow day skiing in the mountains in Norway with my dog. Perfect conditions with a light snow dusting on top of packed snow. Just grippy enough to trek up the mountain and swish down again safely, with very low visibility.

Here is what Helene told us in 2013:

What A levels did you do?
Maths, chemistry and physics.

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I have always been interested in the weather, of course. And I liked the blend of scientific topics it involves.

What was the best bit of the course?
I really enjoyed the practical courses in synoptic meteorology and the fluid dynamics lab work. Also, the Tropical Dynamics and Ocean Dynamics modules were very good! We had some very inspiring lecturers.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
I did the degree to in order to become a weather forecaster. But during the course I got swayed towards the research path. So I did a bit of weather forecasting at first, to try it out, but didn’t fancy the shift work, so I got into research instead.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
I found a job straight away as a weather forecaster. I moved on to wind energy research at Vestas in Denmark not long after. When that research project ended I did a D.Phil degree at the University of Oxford involving paleo-climate modelling. Since then I have done a post-doc in Belgium and now I am a researcher at the University of Oslo, still doing climate modelling
Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
My current job at the University of Oslo involves running Earth System Models on powerful computers to investigate the effect of different geoengineering options, like stratospheric sulphur injections and cirrus cloud thinning, on the climate. I am also doing some work on paleo-climate modelling, comparing the modelled climates of 6000 years and 500,000 years before present to the proxy records. So I spend my days by the computer screen and having fun on the computing cluster.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
Hmmm… Hopefully still working with climate modelling.

What is your favourite weather?
Snowy weather!

What has been your best day at work so far?
The days I’ve had my puppy with me.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
Surely there are no bad days at work in this profession! But the worst day was probably when the espresso machine was broken.

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
I have to say the category 5 hurricane of October 1999, in Puri, Orissa, India. (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/tropicalcyclone/tcbulletins/05b). I have never before or since experienced anything like that, and hopefully won’t ever again. The weather was interesting – to say the least – and the destructions were devastating. My friend and I were out trying to evacuate as it made landfall; knee-deep in water, rain lashing, howling winds and a wall of grey and darkness. It was indescribably wild.

Laura Tobin

Weather Presenter

Laura Tobin climate stripes

In 2023, 20 years after she graduated, we asked Laura some questions about her career in meteorology so far:

Are you in the same job as in 2003? If not, what has your career path been over the last 10 years? 

I graduated from the University of Reading in 2003 with a BSc in Physics and Meteorology, since then I joined the Met Office and did my forecaster training and worked as a civil forecaster at Cardiff weather centre. I joined RAF Brize Norton as a forecaster in 2005 forecasting for pilots flying all over the World. I then joined the BBC weather centre in 2007. I’ve worked at ITV on Good morning Britain since 2012.

What do you do on a day to day basis with your work?

I have an early start at 4am Monday – Friday. I get a cab into ITV at 4:15 and en route I read emails, talk to the Met Office forecaster and weather producer, then research the latest weather. I then get changed and go to hair/makeup around 5:00-5:45. I get miked up and head into the studio for the show to start at 6:00. I present 6 weather bulletins during the show. Post show we have a debrief. I’ll then have various meetings with my weather producer, wardrobe or other weather projects. In the afternoon I talk to the news team about weather items for the following day, preparing graphics and news lines. In the evening I have many emails to send to make sure I have all my charts for the next day.

What has been your career highlight over the last 10 years?

It has to be visiting Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic. It’s warming more than anywhere else on planet Earth and the impacts of climate change mean change is happening very quickly, either from the glacier retreat, impacts on nature or the changing landscapes effects on tourism. It was a once in a lifetime experience and it made me want to do as much as I can to talk about and tackle climate change.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve experienced in your working life in the last 10 years?  

The biggest challenge is time, or lack of it. I have a very short duration to deliver a lot of information as clearly and simply as possible, be it my daily weather forecasts during stormy weather or a detailed climate report. 

Where do you see yourself in 2033?

I absolutely love my job at ITV. I genuinely feel I have the best job in the world. I’d love to still be presenting the weather on Good Morning Britain. Plus also continuing my coverage of the impacts of climate change, here and for other outlets.

What aspects of your meteorology degree do you still use in a professional capacity? 

I still use all the applied meteorology content, It’s important to understand the science of the atmosphere in order to explain what is happening with the weather and why.

How has the field changed since you graduated? 

I feel there is much more interest in weather forecasting as we get more frequent and severe weather, plus extreme weather events around the world. Plus more coverage of climate change and the links to extreme weather. Also some items including climate solutions-good news stories.

What single piece of career advice would you give to someone considering a career in weather or climate?  

Other than go for it; you won’t regret it. I’d say give everything a go & keep learning. Take as many opportunities as you can to get as much experience as you can. I read reports and weather/climate articles every day and I’m always learning.

Favourite weather memory since 2013?   

There are so many. I love that I get to tell the British public about the topic I love the most each day. I love giving ‘science lessons’ and explaining how clouds form and what to look out for and why. I’ve loved stading in storms being pelted with wind and rain. My least favorite was forecasting on the day the UK reached the highest temperature ever recorded 40.3°C at Coningsby, Lincolnshire on July 19, 2022, beating the previous record was 38.7°C. It was a sad day as we broke 40°C something that climate change would make increasingly likely in 20-30 years time but we reached it in 2022, much earlier than meteorologists thought we would and the impacts were over 3,500 excess deaths in the UK as a result. The rate of warming globally and the numbers of records being broken is very worrying.

Caroline Bain

Met Office Scientist

In 2023, 20 years after she graduated, we asked Caroline some questions about her career in meteorology so far:

What A levels did you do?
Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Geography

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I enjoyed science and maths and I wanted to do a degree that would give me the opportunity to apply these subjects to real-world problems. I was interested in the natural environment and was attracted to numerical weather prediction as it combined maths with fast paced operations. Plus, storms are cool.

What was the best bit of the course?
It’s been 20 years since I graduated but I still use much of the knowledge I gained to understand the atmosphere in different contexts. The Meteorology degree at the University of Reading covered so much material and I feel that I got so many more lectures and breadth of subject matter than many of my uni friends. I didn’t appreciate at the time how cutting-edge many of the ideas we were exposed to were – the joy of being taught by scientists who are leading the field. Our class was reasonably small and were massively supportive of each other, so I see many of them either at the Met Office or at conferences. Weather and Climate research is a small world – even international conferences can feel like a big family gathering!

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
I asked around the department to see if anyone had a job (chancer!) and a Professor had a small bit of research funding left over that could employ me as a graduate research assistant for 6 months. After this taste of research I was hooked, and started a PhD in African meteorology at the University of Leeds a year later. I think asking around is a good tactic or contact people you admire/ like their research and ask if they have any opportunities coming up. If you are willing to take short term placements to get your CV going and you are flexible on location, chances are you’ll find something.

What has been your journey from your first job to your current role?
My career has been quite eclectic. I worked in academia and moved to the University of California, Irvine after my PhD. However, I wanted a more permanent role and was interested in real-world applications so becoming a Met Office scientist was a natural move. The Met Office is a great place to work as you can have so many different careers in one organisation – I first worked in model development but had a strong interest in African forecasting so then moved into International Development, working across Africa with several National Meteorological Services.

After having children, I wanted to travel less so moved back to science as Tropical Science Manager. I led/ was involved in several projects across the tropics and for one of these I managed a software project. Through this I could see the transformative power of technology and I realised how enabling good technology and good high-level strategy could be for getting science into services. As a career leap I then moved into technical architecture and am now a Lead Enterprise Architect within our Enterprise Design function. I still supervise PhD students, publish papers and have a link through to science, but I’m working at a higher level within the organisation to understand how to improve the application of weather and climate science to better operations.

What do you do on a day to day basis with your work?
A real mixture, could be anything! Today I had some science meetings listening to details about convection-dynamical interactions, some strategy meetings discussing Agile working practices in product management, an informal chat about the weekends’ forecast with the Chief Meteorologist and some technical discussions about data provisioning with a colleague from New Zealand. I enjoy context switching and work best under pressure so having a busy schedule suits me well.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
I’m open minded and believe that you make your own luck. I probably have a hit-list of things I’d like to achieve in my career, some of them very specific and some thematic. Primarily I want to make sure I make the most of my time and skills.

What has been your best day at work so far?
I was a visiting scientist at Monash University in Melbourne but was also PI of my first flight campaign over Lake Victoria – the day of the first flight was a weekend so I was with my family at a BBQ of a University colleague, and I split my time chatting science and new ideas with my colleague, checking the FAAM website for aircraft updates/ nowcasting on my laptop and jumping in the pool with my kids.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
Getting a grant rejected after pulling 2 weeks of late nights to write it. It’s quite healthy to get rejections sometimes – keeps you on your toes and you learn from mistakes, even if it is frustrating at the time.

What is your most memorable weather moment?
Standing on the Sahelian plain in Mali watching a monster Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) move across the horizon looking like the apocalypse was coming. It’s my claim to fame as that storm turned into Hurricane Katrina (2005) in the Atlantic, and I weirdly ended up in it again a month later in Arran in Scotland (on another field trip) – it was just a lot of drizzle by then!

Kgolo Michelson

Post-doc researcher

What A levels did you do?
Physics and Maths

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I stumbled into weather when I was a Physics student at the University of Botswana. I met one of the meteorologists and had a very interesting discussion on atmospheric physics.  I quickly became hooked and never looked back. It’s what I’ve wanted to do ever since. So I came to Reading 2 years later.

What was the best bit of the course?
Studying climate and tropical meteorology was really useful for my country’s weather (Botswana), at a good level of detail. Contained fascinating accounts of extreme weather events, plus explanations of why they happen, which has been very valuable at the beginning of my career. 

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
There wasn’t much choice for me since Meteorology is still in its infantry stage in my country, so I had to join the Meteorology department to contribute the little I had learnt.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
It was relatively easy but I have since moved on to other things.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
I started as a duty forecaster, then did TV presentations on weather. After almost a decade, I decided to go back to school to pursue my postgraduate studies. I am still in the study lane, and hope to continue into Doctorate should the opportunity arise.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
I am so interested in climate modelling, so I hope to contribute in Research for African climatology, particularly rainfall variability or cloud physics.

What is your favourite weather?
I prefer sunny conditions. Temperatures in mid 20’s to lower 30’s.

What has been your best day at work so far?
Representing my country as a delegate at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference

What has been your worst day at work so far?
I can’t really say I have had that yet.

What is your most memorable weather moment?
The weather moment that affected me most was A ‘Tati-Siding Hail Storm’ in November 2006. I had recently transitioned from a desk forecaster to a fill-in TV weather forecaster when the storm brought heavy winds and large hail of more than 5cm in diameter to the North East District (particularly the Tati). This was my first life-threatening weather event to cover first-hand. It was during that storm that I realised what a huge responsibility weather forecasting is, and from that moment, I have been more than hooked on weather.

Stephen Nash

Research Scientist

What A levels did you do?
Maths, further maths, physics, geography

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I was given a Rain and Shine weather kit (with a John Adams thermometer) when I was 7 and never looked back!

What was the best bit of the course?
Building up a great range of analytical skills that are highly valued in the workplace; all supported by great lecturers and amazing fellow students!

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
Trial and error. I tried some research on graduating but it wasn’t for me. I knew I wanted to work as a consultant but was unsure of exactly what area.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
It was relatively easy to find a job. After the research stint I trained to build up my basic business skills. Since qualifying I’ve been working in energy, specifically in strategy consulting. I have also done a lot of economic modelling in my job.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
I help my clients to answer the big strategic questions that are keeping their C-suite awake. In energy that is generally policy and how to respond to the challenges of climate change.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time? 
As a partner in my firm; and playing a key role in decarbonising Europe’s power sector.

What is your favourite weather?
Cold, crisp mornings

What has been your best day at work so far?
Lots of good moments, but one of the best was probably a meeting in Milan where I had a room full of bankers hanging on every word of advice after they had invested in a bad project.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
When I was doing lots of economic modelling it could be very iterative, meaning many long days with little to show for it!

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
Seeing the remains of Shanklin pier after the 1987 storm.

 

Curtis Wood

Curtis Wood

Research Scientist

What A levels did you do?
Maths, Physics, Geography, Chemistry

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?  
(i) interested in weather,
(ii) advice from a career questionnaire,
(iii) good use of the subjects I was already doing.

What was the best bit of the course?
The mixture was good (field, labs, analysis, theory, mixture of science subjects)

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?  
I just followed my nose

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
It was easy, and I’ve stayed in the same type of job – although with different funding and in different places.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?  

I am a research scientist so the job involves a mix of reading and writing scientific papers, writing grant proposals proposals, attending conferences, giving talks, preparing posters, writing and running computer code, etc.)

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?  
In the same job.

What is your favourite weather?  
Spring sunshine

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?  

The record-breaking snow in UK in 2011.

Duncan Ackerley

Duncan Ackerley

Researcher

What A levels did you do?
Physics, Maths and Geography.

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I had had an interest in meteorology from the age of 5 when a primary school teacher gave me a ‘weather log book’ to keep me out of trouble. From there I found the weather fascinating especially thunderstorms and tornadoes. I just wanted to learn more and doing the meteorology course was the obvious choice.

What was the best bit of the course?
I really enjoyed pretty much everything on the course but the field trip was the best experience I had.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
I wanted to stay in academia after such a great experience on the undergraduate course and a really interesting PhD came up at Reading so I decided to do it.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
I’ve had 3 different positions in 3 different research areas. I started in aerosol modelling at Reading University, then moved to Wellington (New Zealand) to do high-resolution regional climate modelling of past, present and future in New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere. I am now in Melbourne (Australia) investigating the causes of increased rainfall in the north-west of the country. It’s one of the great things about doing meteorology, there are opportunities everywhere and you can work in some really amazing places.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
In all of my jobs the basic theme has been the same – running, analysing, perturbing and evaluating different versions of the Met Office Unified Model.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
I hope to have finally chosen a subject that encompasses all of my research experience and to teach the next generation of atmospheric scientists about that subject. However, if someone had asked me the same question 10 years ago I would never have seen myself living and working in New Zealand and Australia… so if something else comes along I may pursue that instead.

What is your favourite weather?
Thunderstorms – Melbourne has been the best place for them out of all the places I’ve lived.

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
The Christmas day storms in Melbourne in 2011. There were tornadoes and golf-ball sized hail in the northern suburbs. The storms also brought a halt to our Christmas Day cricket match in Melbourne’s south-east. We were stuck in a public amenities pavilion at the park for half an hour as the lightning was happening directly overhead.

Jonathan Wilkinson

Researcher

In 2023, 20 years after graduating, we asked Jonathan some questions about his career in meteorology so far:

Are you in the same job as in 2013? If not, what has your career path been over the last 10 years?
I’m still in the same job, although the challenges are always changing and evolving, so while it’s sometimes the same as 2013, there’s lots of differences which means it’s never boring.

What do you do on a day to day basis with your work?
As a specialist numerical weather prediction (NWP) modelling scientist, I’m busy coding up new bits of science for our model, as well as evaluating how good the model is against observations, including those from aircraft, radar and surface-based sensors.

What has been your career highlight over the last 10 years?
I’m really pleased on the work I’ve been doing to improve our understanding of when the UK sees lightning, including adding a lightning scheme to the Met Office model and developing techniques to see when we might experience thunderstorms a few days in advance.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve experienced in your working life in the last 10 years?
The biggest challenge is ongoing! We’re completely writing our weather model from a latitude-longitude grid to avoid issues around the north and south poles. This has meant translating the science we have to a totally new model; this has taken a lot of time, work and patience and involves a number of colleagues across the office.

Where do you see yourself in 2033?
I think I’ll still be in Weather and Climate science and probably doing something similar, but who knows as things often change rapidly!

What aspects of your meteorology degree do you still use in a professional capacity?
It’s mostly all relevant (I have just this week been using some equations from the first lectures we did), but for me the cloud physics and numerical modelling aspects of my degree have been really useful.

How has the field changed since you graduated?
Atmospheric sciences always seem to be evolving, but we have gained bigger and faster supercomputers, allowing more complex simulations of our planet to be undertaken. The role of artificial intelligence and machine learning has recently really started to grow too, and if managed correctly could really help assist with numerous forecasting challenges.

What single piece of career advice would you give to someone considering a career in weather or climate?
If it’s something you’re really interested in, then go for it! But be prepared to do a fair bit of maths and physics as part of any degree course.

Favourite weather memory since 2013?
Being on holiday in the Mediterranean and seeing some interesting/violent looking convective thunderstorms, although thankfully from a distance!

Here is what Jonathan told us in 2013:

What A levels did you do?
Geography, Maths, Physics and General Studies.

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I always enjoyed studying the weather and meteorology whilst at school. By the time I reached the middle of secondary school I’d decided that I wanted to get a job in that field, so a meteorology degree was the obvious choice.

What was the best bit of the course?
Everyone was so friendly- the lecturers and other students. It was a great place to study and the course was well-structured.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
Prior to University, I had considered being a forecaster. However, during my time as an undergraduate, I realised that I liked the idea of doing research and wasn’t as keen on the shift work that forecasters have to do. So, after a summer break, I started a PhD at Reading in clouds.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
It wasn’t too tricky to get into my PhD, but when I came towards the end of my PhD, there were very few jobs in my research area and I found it difficult to move on. Thankfully, a job in research at the Met Office came up eventually and I was able to start in Exeter two months after graduating with my PhD.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
I work to improve the representation of ‘cloud microphysics’ (the processes which lead to precipitation) in the Met Office Unified Model (the computer model which is used to predict the weather and do climate modelling).  This has involved a variety of projects (anything from drizzle to snow or heavy rain) but has recently led me into studying thunderstorm electrification processes and to computer modelling of lightning, which has been really exciting. I also do some consultancy work, such as investigating lightning strikes to helicopters serving the oil and gas industry in the North Sea. On occasions, I also get experience flights on the research plane used by the Met Office and UK Universities.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
I really like Exeter and Devon; the city is nice and the countryside surrounding it is fantastic so it would be great to stay in this location.

What is your favourite weather?
A nice warm summer’s day when you can spend all the day outdoors.

What has been your best day at work so far?
During the first sixth months of 2012, I looked into lightning prediction using the Met Office model and was able to produce a test facility to do so.  On the afternoon prior to the London Olympics opening ceremony, the forecasters on duty asked if we could use this to see if there would be any lightning around the Olympic stadium that evening; they were concerned because there was lightning over France that afternoon and had been lightning over part of the English Channel earlier that day and they wondered whether it would spread to London. Our predictions showed that there was unlikely to be any lightning during the ceremony, which turned out to be true, even though there was a light shower just before the ceremony started. I got home late and was exhausted, but it was worth it all to know I had played my small part in making the Olympics such a huge success.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
Thankfully there are very few bad days. However, one of the most memorable was trying to organise a video conference. The equipment kept crashing and we randomly got put through to someone in Coventry, who had nothing to do with the meeting!

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
On the 16 Feb 1996 when my family and I saw some extremely rare nacreous (or mother-of-pearl) clouds whilst driving towards Huddersfiel

Hannah Bloomfield

Hannah Bloomfield

Research Scientist

In 2023, 10 years after she graduated, we asked Hannah some questions about her career in meteorology so far:

What A levels did you do?
Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I actually did a Natural Sciences Degree at UEA with Maths and Physics majors, but as UEA didn’t have an official physics department I took my ‘physics’ as Meteorology and Oceanography. This really appealed to me as I liked the applied aspects of the maths I had been taking and had a keen interest in climate change.

What was the best bit of the course?
The people that I met – I was amazed how many people there were who really liked weather!

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
During my degree I did a summer placement in the seismology group at UEA, modelling earthquakes using 3D computer models. This was really hard, as I hadn’t done very much computing before. But it made me realise I really liked research! So, I looked around for PhD projects I could do. During my degree I enjoyed the modules about climate change and renewable energy systems the most, so I looked for PhDs around this topic. I ended up at the University of Reading doing my thesis on ‘The impact of climate variability and climate change on the GB power system’.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
To get the PhD there was quite a competitive interview process, and I applied for quite a few before I got mine. Since then, I’ve stayed in academia, working at various different Universities. I have worked as a post-doctoral researcher on 5 projects all thinking about the impact of climate variability and climate change on the energy, insurance or finance sectors. Three of those projects were at the University of Reading, but after this I moved to the University of Bristol, and Loughborough University. It is quite common for post-docs to have to move around after their PhD for these kinds of jobs. In June this year I started a 5-year independent research fellowship at Newcastle University so I think I’ll be still in Academia for a while!

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
My job mainly involves writing computer programs to investigate fun research questions! I create models of demand, wind power and solar power for various countries around the world and investigate what weather could cause their energy systems the largest problems. If I find any particularly exciting results I get to write these up as research papers, and go to conferences to present them to other academics. I also do a bit of teaching and supervising of student projects.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?.
Hopefully with a permanent lecturer position at a University, working my way towards becoming a professor!

What is your favourite weather?
Sunny windy days – the best days for lots of wind and solar generation, and great days to go to the beach!

What has been your best day at work so far?
The day I passed my PhD viva was a very good day!

What has been your worst day at work so far?
I struggle a lot with imposter syndrome (when you think you’re not good enough to do your job) so I think the worst day was when I went to give a talk at a conference, and someone thought I was a waitress rather than the presenter. Thankfully there haven’t been any more incidents like that.

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
When I was in high school, we went on a family holiday to Turkey and there was a massive thunderstorm. I’d never seen so much lightning in my life and was totally mesmerised!

Matt Waring

Matt Waring

Royal Navy Meteorologist

In 2023, 10 years after he graduated, we asked Matt some questions about his career in meteorology so far:

What A levels did you do?

Maths, Physics, Geography and English Language

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?

From a young age I was fascinated by the weather and its impact on people and the environment. A degree in the subject enabled me to study something I was curious about whilst also being a good stepping stone towards a career I thought I would find challenging and enjoyable.

What was the best bit of the course?

From an academic perspective the field work and practical elements of the course were undoubted highlights. However a year on exchange studying in New Zealand has provided me with memories and friendships which will last a lifetime.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?

Having been interested in pursuing a career in meteorology from a young age, I had found that the Royal Navy employed meteorologists. The role also included elements of Oceanography and Hydrographic surveying as well as navigating and ‘driving’ warships. The variety of the job definitely appealed to me as well as the opportunity to travel to some interesting parts of the world, places that I would never have visited otherwise.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?

I initially became a Science Teacher and whilst I loved being in the classroom, teaching lacked the sense of adventure I was looking for at the time. That being said many of the skills I learnt during my time teaching have transferred over into my career in the Royal Navy.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?

That’s a very difficult question as my job is incredibly varied! Over the past few years I have advised the Commanders of Royal Navy ships, submarines and aircraft on the meteorological and oceanographic impacts to operations and how they might look to exploit the environment to gain a tactical advantage. Most recently this has been focused on the underwater environment and hunting submarines. Being part of a team that influences the decisions of senior officers regarding where they take their ship, submarine or aircraft and what they do when they get there can be hugely satisfying and at times a little daunting. However, whilst there is a significant amount of responsibility attached, the sense of achievement when things go well is immensely satisfying.

Now my career has taken a slightly different direction; I am now the Executive Officer (second in command) of an inshore survey vessel. We are responsible for ensuring the safety of navigation in a number of strategic UK ports.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?

There are so many opportunities and career paths I could follow within the Royal Navy. I might find myself further specialising as an Advanced Meteorologist or Oceanographer, I have the opportunity to pursue a route which could lead to becoming the Commanding Officer of a Frigate or Destroyer or further develop my survey skills as an Advanced Hydrographic Surveyor. All of these would be interesting, challenging and enjoyable in their own way – deciding which route to take is the hardest part!

What is your favourite weather?

At sea, without doubt calm and sunny; it’s the perfect weather to enjoy the sunset or perhaps a Flight Deck BBQ! Any other time a thunderstorm.

What has been your best day at work so far?

I really wish I could share that with you, but unfortunately that’s not something I am able to talk about!

What has been your worst day at work so far?

This job brings some of the highest highs but also demands some immense sacrifices; I’ve missed birthdays, weddings and funerals but being thousands of miles away from home and missing the birth of my son was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?

Occasionally, to protect operational security we need to cut ourselves off from external communications. When this happens we lose access to all the latest model information, observations and satellite imagery which has become fundamental to modern weather forecasting. Producing a number of accurate and detailed forecasts for operational units with nothing more than my own observations and an out of date synoptic chart is a challenge but hugely satisfying when it goes well!

Kerry Slater

Kerry Slater

Weather Forecaster

In 2023, 10 years after she graduated, we asked Kerry some questions about her career in meteorology so far:

What A levels did you do?
I studied Maths, Physics, German and Art.

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
Initially, I was going to study Maths at university. It wasn’t until a weather presenter on TV was quizzed on what they studied at university. They explained they studied meteorology, and it was like a lightbulb moment for me. Having always loved thunderstorms and snow, I knew it was exactly what I wanted to study from thereon.

What was the best bit of the course?
Learning how to forecast the weather, and the field trip to the Lake District. Taking theory and applying it to the real world was very enjoyable.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
It felt like a natural progression to go into operational forecasting after graduation.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
There were few jobs around at the time, but after some months of perseverance, I was able to secure a forecasting role at WSI (now The Weather Company, an IBM Business). I stayed in this role for 3 years, before moving into a sales role for over 6 years during which time I moved to MetDesk. More recently, I have moved into a more strategic role, titled Head of Growth.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
I help to develop & execute key sales, marketing and product development strategies to help boost revenues, with the focus predominantly on the energy sector.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
Likely continuing to diversify my skillset in other areas of the business.

What is your favourite weather?
I love thunderstorms. So much so, I have visited the States a few times to chase supercells across the Great Plains.

What has been your best day at work so far?
One of my best days early on was when I visited The Weather Channel studios in Atlanta. Meeting some of the presenters, including Jim Cantore, was a particular highlight. In more recent years, one of the best weeks was when I closed 3 deals in one week. The feeling of receiving a signed contract is very addictive.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
Possibly working the nightshifts when I haven’t been able to sleep the day before!

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
It has to be the cold wave event in Feb/March 2018, coined “Beast from the East”. I always found it incredible how an anomalous area of rainfall in the equatorial Pacific went on to trigger a sudden stratospheric w arming (SSW) event, and consequently, weeks of cold weather in Europe.

Steven Hart

Steven Hart

Project Manager, Network Rail

In 2023, 10 years after he graduated, we asked Steven some questions about his career in meteorology so far:

What A levels did you do?
Maths, Geography, Biology, General Studies

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
Meteorology is an exciting and dynamic subject which can provide clear and demonstrable application of maths into real world situations. The variations and variability in our global weather systems have been studied in details for centuries and there are still so many things we don’t know and need to continue to research. This coupled with the demonstrable changes which are occurring in the weather and ocean systems arising as a result of global climate change means that now more than ever we need to ensure that we have a comprehensive understanding of the weather and oceanic systems and how they interact with each other.

What was the best bit of the course?
Global Warming and Climate Change were still relatively new phenomena when I was studying. There was a significant global focus from organisations like the IPCC but key global political commitments such as the 2015 Paris climate agreement didn’t exist. It was amazing to be studying in a field which itself was at the forefront of scientific research and to be able to be actively involved and following the global warming and climate change journey as it was becoming “the next big thing” was an amazing experience.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
The 2008 recession meant that the job market was in a difficult place and a lot of organisations had started to remove roles around corporate and social responsibility which was the area I was looking to go into. As a result I took an opportunity to step away from the subject directly and moved into further study undertaking a Masters Degree in Programme and Project Management. From there I went into Project Management for Network Rail the national Rail Infrastructure owner and operator.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
I was fortunate to secure funding for my masters degree and as part of this was guaranteed a role in Network Rail. The skills I learned in my time studying Meteorology were invaluable in moving into my further study and career. Whilst the subject was different a lot of the approaches taken to research and management were very similar and the soft skills which were developed in my studies proved invaluable to my further work. I spent eight years in Network Rail undertaking a variety of different roles from Project Management, to Sponsorship and latterly long-term strategic planning where I was responsible for developing a long-term plan for supporting decarbonisation of the rail industry by removing diesel trains from our rail network. After eight years I was ready for a new challenge in my career and took the opportunity to move to the private sector and am now a senior member of a strategic rail advisory team within a major international rail consultancy.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
I’m part of a team of rail advisory specialists who provide advice to public and private sector clients in the rail industry in both the UK and internationally. In this role no two days are the same as we’re always facing new challenges and working with new clients to help forward the rail industry both here and abroad forward making sure that rail plays an integral part of the transport infrastructure. In our business unit everyone has a technical specialism which is used to provide advice to clients. I’m in a really fortunate position that I’m a specialist in rail decarbonisation so I can guess you can say I’ve gone full circle at last and am in a role which I have a genuine passion for as a result of my degree studies.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
I have a genuine passion for rail and am keen to stay in the sector although there are much wider opportunities as our business works across a number of sectors and is a major international organisation. At the minute I’m focused on offering the best support I can around decarbonisation in the rail industry in order to support with the legislative targets of net zero emissions by 2050. In 10 years time we’ll only have seventeen years left to reach that goal which in the rail industry is no time at all!

What is your favourite weather?
I’d probably say wind is my favourite as I love how something you can’t see can have such a massive effect on things that you can. Also nothing beats a nice cool sea breeze on a hot day!

What has been your best day at work so far?
There have been way way way to many to count and list here. I’ve absolutely loved my career so far and have had so many fun times. Some of my best days have been when I’ve been stood on a stage in front of hundreds of railway professionals talking about decarbonisation in rail. Its been amazing to see how in such a short space of time decarbonisation and global warming has become the major topic of the hour and every sector across the whole economy needs professional and experts to support with the decarbonisation journey.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
That one is probably weather related…. I remember in the earlier stages of my career standing at the side of a railway in the dead of night watching a ground works team dig an embankment away to install an underpass and it was raining buckets… I got absolutely drenched but I look back at night shifts like that and smile because we always had so much good fun!

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
When I was on holiday in Northern Italy I had a hotel room with a balcony which looked onto a series of vast open fields with mountains in the far background. A lightning storm rolled across the fields and I sat there for an hour or so just watching it move through. It was one of the most spectacular light shows I’ve ever seen and I always think about it when there’s thunder and lightning about.

Chris Webber

Chris Webber

Risk Analyst, Insurance Industry

In 2023, 10 years after he graduated, we asked Chris some questions about his career in meteorology so far:

What A levels did you do?

Maths, Physics, Geography, Design and Technology

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?
I enjoyed studying meteorology in geography A-level, probably because I’d always been fascinated to understand the changeable weather we experience in the UK.

What was the best bit of the course?
Applying the theory to real-world problems, such as explaining UK and European air pollution episodes throughout my undergraduate dissertation & PhD thesis.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?
I spent a year in industry during my undergraduate course, during which time I worked for the London air-quality network throughout the London 2012 Olympics. This inspired me to pursue a career in research, which naturally led me towards undertaking a PhD.

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?
Following my PhD, I took a couple of short post-doctoral positions, both of which were fascinating and great learning experiences. I then looked towards industry and an application for my academic background. I wouldn’t say it was easy to find that first job in industry, as I took some time to evaluate the options, but haven’t looked back since moving to Verisk (formally AIR) in London. I have since moved a couple of times throughout the same industry, experiencing new perspectives and gaining more responsibility to impact weather/climate related business decisions.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?
My job involves evaluating risk from natural catastrophes for Brit Insurance. Within the research team, we develop a ‘view of risk’ for all (personally involved in natural) catastrophes that influence Brit’s portfolio of insured exposure. Further to this, we collaborate with external parties, including academics, to help enhance ours and the industry’s understanding of natural catastrophic risk. A large part of my job involves communication, whether that be through external presentations, or through internal knowledge sharing.

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?
I hope to continue my research within this rapidly-evolving industry and contribute in part to its development. The research community within the industry is growing rapidly, which is great to see. This influx constantly refreshes and challenges long-standing processes throughout the industry.

What is your favourite weather?
I’m a keen cricketer, so it would be remiss of me not to say dry and sunny.

What has been your best day at work so far?
Plural, every time an MSc student I’m co-supervising graduates and finds their first role within the industry.

What has been your worst day at work so far?
Leaving my first industry role, it’s never easy parting-ways, but something that’ll surely happen to most of us.

What is your most memorable meteorological moment?
Possibly due to recency bias, but Storm Eunice in Feb 2022 stands out for me. Not just for the ferocity of the wind speeds experienced in the South of England, but also for becoming quite heavily involved in pre-event commentary and dealing with the post-event fallout with my job.

Matt Hayden

Oceanographer

In 2023, 10 years after he graduated, we asked Matt some questions about his career in meteorology so far:

What A levels did you do?

Maths, physics, geography and chemistry.

Why did you choose a meteorology degree?

I chose a degree in Meteorology & Oceanography partly because growing up on a farm, life and work was always governed by the changing weather which sparked my interest in meteorology and I wanted to understand the processes that were going on above us. I also had a love for the ocean from a young age, especially surfing, so I was excited to further my understanding of weather patterns and their interaction with the ocean. This lead me to choosing a combined degree in Meteorology and Oceanography.

What was the best bit of the course?

I really enjoyed the atmospheric chemistry and chemical oceanography side of my course. With climate change being such a key topic, learning the biogeochemical processes of our ocean and their interaction with atmospheric chemistry, and how it affects our climate and therefore our future was very interesting.

How did you choose what to do after you graduated?

After I graduated I wanted a job that would involve plenty of hands on fieldwork, and hoped to travel whilst working. I chose to apply for positions that included working with environmental sensors and instrumentation to increase my technical knowledge and ability in the field. 

Was it easy to find a job, and have you stayed in the same job since you graduated?

I reached out to multiple companies and research institutes in the UK and abroad, even ones that weren’t recruiting. I was lucky enough to be contacted by a metocean survey company in the summer after graduating. I started almost immediately, and my first task was to fly to Indonesia and install an acoustic doppler current profiler to the bottom of a survey ship, and sail through the Java straights whilst testing the instrument.  I left this role after a couple of years and found a job as a research technician at Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. This gave me the opportunity to work at the Tudor Hill atmospheric observatory and be a technician for the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series study, conducting shipboard research cruises every month. After 7 years, I then moved to the USA to work as a research technician for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Can you give us an overview of what your job involves?

My current role involves both laboratory and ship-based field work, the lab I work in focuses on the ocean carbon cycle and it’s effect on our climate. I go out on research cruises and use a suite of oceanographic sensors and arrays, and take seawater samples from the water column. I use the data acquired from the sensors and analytical instrumentation back in the lab to help build a picture of the inorganic carbon cycling in the ocean.  

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years’ time?

I hope to be in a position where I am still learning and contributing towards advances in ocean and climate science!

What is your favourite weather?

Hurricanes! Living in Bermuda for 7 years, whilst working for an oceanographic research station, gave me the opportunity to witness multiple direct hits from hurricanes and seeing nature at its most powerful was amazing.

What has been your best day at work so far?

A memorable day at work was conducting an ocean acidification survey in the inshore waters of Bermuda, there was no wind whatsoever, so the ocean was like a sheet of glass and the visibility was amazing. You could see all the corals and fish beneath the boat perfectly, and dolphins were riding the bow wave from our boat.

What has been your worst day at work so far?

The worst day at work was probably when Hurricane Gonzalo blew down the 80ft atmospheric research tower that I had just began working at. It took weeks of clearing fallen trees, disassembling the destroyed tower and repairing the mobile laboratory that it had fallen on top of. Thanks to a lot of support from the scientific community we managed to get the tower rebuilt and up and running a few months later!