Welcome and Preview of things to come!!!

Greetings and welcome to my blog!

This will be (somewhat) short and sweet. In less than two weeks, I will be heading to upstate New York from Wyoming to participate in a very large field project focusing on lake-effect snowstorms over Lake Ontario. This project, named OWLeS (Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems), will officially be the largest lake-effect snow research campaign that has ever been attempted. Involved in OWLeS will be some 70+ researchers, faculty, and students from nine universities and research centers from across the country. 

Once the project begins, I will be posting semi-regular updates (with photos!) as time permits of some of different things that are taking place. This will hopefully give a "behind the scenes" perspective into the various activities that occur during a large field campaign like OWLeS. I will also provide a glimpse into some of my own duties, which should include many flights aboard the University of Wyoming's very own King Air research airplane.

Finally, some may ask why I am even writing a blog in the first place. At the University of Wyoming, I am a part of what is known as the UW Science Posse, a small group of graduate students in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) who travel throughout the state of Wyoming sharing their passion for science with middle and high school students through lessons, career talks, and other educational approaches. As I will be absent for all of December and much of January, I felt it would be neat to give students back in Wyoming the opportunity to "take part" in this field project by following me on my journey into the realm of lake-effect snowstorms. Hopefully, any students who wish to do so will fully enjoy what is in store! :)

-Phil