Meteorology student's NASA blog: 'Where will the wind take you?'

Nick Heath, a doctoral student in meteorology in Florida State University's Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, is featured in a NASA blog marking Earth Science Week. He was asked to write this article since he has a NASA Fellowship. (To view the original post, visit http://nasaesw.strategies.org/2014/10/will-wind-take/.)

Nick Heath

"Like most young guys living near the beach, I started surfing to pick up girls. But, this hobby eventually turned into a passion for the ocean, and the entire Earth system, that led me to a career in science. It all started with a seemingly simple question: 'What causes waves?' As it turns out, it’s the atmosphere — wind blows across the ocean’s surface and creates waves. Once I learned this, I started watching The Weather Channel 24/7. Where is the latest storm? Where are the winds blowing the strongest? How big will the waves be? These were all questions I tried to answer on a daily basis. I didn’t think of it as 'science,' more like fun! Eventually, I decided I wanted a formal education to understand the weather, and that’s what got me where I am today, pursuing a Ph.D. in meteorology at Florida State University. Am I still watching the waves? You bet! However, I’ve learned that there are so many other interesting things happening in our Earth system.

"Just as I was amazed to find out that waves are created by wind, I am amazed that almost everything in the Earth system is interconnected. For example, air-sea interactions create the waves I surf, but they are also important to phenomena like El Niño and La Niña, which affect our global climate. Did you know that clouds are very hard to produce in climate models, and that they represent a great uncertainty in our future climate predictions? If not, don’t worry, neither did I. But, because clouds reflect incoming radiation from the Sun, and absorb outgoing radiation from the Earth, they play a critical role in the Earth’s energy budget. Therefore, to predict our future climate, it is important that models accurately simulate clouds. My Ph.D. research is focusing on clouds (specifically those associated with thunderstorms) and evaluating how well the models produce them. Making the jump from learning about waves to studying clouds wasn’t that difficult. In fact, almost anything you’re interested in (math, chemistry, engineering, etc.) can be applied to the Earth system. And, aside from being fun, you can do research that is really meaningful and can help society in everyday life.

"But, to become a 'scientist,' you’ll have to attend several years of graduate school. What’s it like? Well, you spend a lot of time computer programming, reading, and always learning something new. But, it can be more than just deskwork. Since I’ve started, I’ve participated in a couple of NASA airborne missions and have even flown on several NASA flights. I was definitely a little nervous/anxious to fly on a NASA plane, but the experience opened my eyes to a whole new world of hands-on research. With the Internet today, we have access to almost all the information we need to conduct research. However, the experience I’ve gained from participating in NASA airborne missions has taught me that there is no substitute for collecting data in the field, analyzing those data, and making a project out of it. I am currently analyzing data from a NASA airborne mission that I participated in SEAC4RS, where the planes actually flew through large clouds to gather data (that’s right, the REAL 'Into the Storm') . . . pretty awesome. Can it be a lot of hard work? Sure. But, as Confucius said: 'Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.' So, no matter what you’re interested in, there is always a way to incorporate it into Earth system science. Don’t be afraid to follow your passion . . . you never know where it might take you."

— Nick Heath