Belleville Student Presents Findings at American Meteorological Society Conference in Seattle
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Photo courtesy of Meredith Smith
Belleville student Grace Przybyl recently presented to students and professionals at the 16th Annual American Meteorological Society Student Conference in Seattle. Researchers and members of organizations like the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were present at the conference.
I love working with students and I love teaching them science, but it is a great feeling when they fully embrace science. Grace Przybyl is one of those students. I first had Grace as a student during her sophomore year, in Physics. Since then I have had her in Advanced Chemistry, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and Principles of Engineering. Grace excels in everything she does, but she truly glows when working with any science.
During the summer entering her junior year in high school, Grace attended a camp that introduced her to space and weather science. The camp sparked an interest for Grace - basic coding using Python. She downloaded the program and, with periodic help from her neighbor, she taught herself how to code using Python. When she turned 16 she applied for a job at the SSEC (Space Science and Engineering Center), which is located on the UW-Madison campus. Soon after she was hired she began her work with Jessica Gartzke. Grace learned to use a program called SHARPpy, which allowed her to compare storm severity prediction to the values Jessica collected using a different program. By the age of 17 Grace was a co-author on a paper that was submitted to the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology and she attended her first conference in Lake Geneva as a co-author for her poster.
Grace's first major project went so well she decided to take on a whole new challenge, her own project. She began her project by collecting and analyzing AIRS (Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder) data that was collected from a NASA satellite. She quickly realized that there were many discrepancies between the satellite data and the data collected on the ground from airports all over the country. When the satellite data is replaced with the actual surface and dew point temperatures, severe weather can be detected much earlier, which has the potential to save lives.
Grace presented her findings at the Monona Terrace this past summer, and this past weekend Grace traveled to Seattle to present to students and professionals at the 16th annual American Meteorological Society Student Conference. Grace shared her current and continuing research with numerous students, researchers, and members of organizations like the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Grace has taken this opportunity and grown so much from it. She is a proficient programmer in Python, she is learning more and more everyday about Matlab, she has learned how to work with all kinds of people in various settings, and the list goes on.
For more information on Grace's research go to this weblink: https://ams.confex.com/ams/21SATMET20ASI/webprogram/Paper297406.html.
