Spring Training 2023 has concluded but
the full recorded package is available for purchase!

PURCHASE 2023

More info about Spring Training 2023,
in partnership with COMET/MetEd!

Spring Training offers foundational, operational and accessible information and training material for storm chasers at all levels - from those who want to begin their chase education or brush up on the basics, to more advanced chasers wanting to learn more in-depth about specialized topics. Just like in baseball, we gather every spring to shake off the rust, refresh our skills, and get ready to hit a home run.

Spring Training speakers are experts within their fields, and the training is an opportunity to learn from them in-depth, in addition to offering interactive opportunities to ask questions and chat with chasing veterans.

This event will always be held virtually and remain affordable; Girls Who Chase is a global community and we believe strongly in making science and learning accessible to everyone without the constraints of travel or financial hardship.

Schedule

Speakers

SESSIONS

Check out what we've got planned! We incorporate two different session types into our Spring Training event:

Presentations: You'll gain knowledge on a variety of topics relevant to developing skills in storm chasing and forecasting.

Interactive panels: You'll have the chance to connect with chasing and meteorology experts in a facilitated Q&A session.

SCHEDULE*

All times are in CT
10:00am Kickoff

10:15 Raychel Sanner: Forecasting For Storm Chasing 101

11:15 Raychel Sanner: Resources For Storm Chasing (Radar & Satellite)

12:05-1 Break OR Q&A Room
12:10 Q&A Room 1: Meteorology (including: Kathryn Prociv, Dr. Robin Tanamachi, Dr. Jana Houser, Amanda Viken, Jennifer Watson, & Vanessa Vincente)
1:00pm Randy Denzer: Safety & the Role of A Chaser in an Emergency

1:50 Melanie Metz: Video Brokering - Tips for Editing & Selling Your Storm Videos

2:35-2:45 Break

2:50 Liz Leitman & Christiaan Patterson: Intro to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC)/National Weather Service (NWS) & the Relationship to Chasers

4:20 Lori Bailey & Becca Furnish: Intro to Chasing the Monsoon & Capturing Lightning

5:10 Q&A Room 2: Storm Chasing (Including: Jessica Moore, Shannon Bileski & Becca Furnish)

*Please note all times/topics/speakers are subject to change

Schedule

TO ACCESS THE EVENT

To participate in this event or obtain access to all recordings, please register via Eventbrite either using this link or the "Register" buttons on this page.

A join/streaming link for this event will be sent to registrants via email and made available on this event site approximately 48 hours prior to event start. The event will go live promptly at 10am CT on March 4, at the link provided.

NOTE: All presentations will be recorded and made permanently available to registrants - so if you can't make it, you can check 'em out after the fact (and watch as many times as you want). We will distribute the link to the recordings via email to all registrants shortly after the event has ended (within 5 business days to allow us time to produce and upload).

PURCHASE 2023

SPEAKERS & PANELISTS

Speakers

*To read the full bio, click on a speaker's image.

Raychel Sanner

Forecasting for Storm Chasing 101
Resources for Storm Chasing (Radar & Satellite)

Raychel Sanner is the co-founder of Tornado Titans and has been storm chasing for 20 years. Raychel is an Emmy Award winning storm chaser, award winning photographer, and manages many of the day-to-day operations for Tornado Titans. This includes creating content for Titan U, which is a resource for weather enthusiasts and storm spotters to learn how to forecast storms, as well as a comprehensive resource on storm structure and behavior.
Raychel was born and raised in rural Oklahoma before attending the University of Oklahoma, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcasting and Social Issues. Raychel started her first online media company as a teenager and has now worked in digital media for over 25 years. She is married to Sara and enjoys spending time with her fur babies and exploring the southwest outside of storm season.

Liz Leitman

Intro to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) - and its relationship to storm chasers

Liz Leitman has been a National Weather Service meteorologist for 16.5 years and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. Currently a Mesoscale/Outlook forecaster at the NWS Storm Prediction Center, Liz forecasts severe thunderstorm hazards (tornadoes, damaging gusts, and hail) for the nation. Previously, she worked as a meteorologist at local NWS offices in Billings, MT and Louisville, KY. Liz’s research interests include science communication, topics in tornado forecasting and applied meteorology, as well as fire weather. In her spare time, you’ll likely find Liz reading, hiking the Wichita Mountains, and photographing landscapes and skies.

Melanie Metz

Video Brokering - Tips for editing & selling your storm videos

Melanie has been documenting severe weather for over 20 years. She started her chasing career as one of the "Twister Sisters," appearing in documentaries, a TV series and many public speaking events. Her work has been featured on National Geographic Television, The Weather Channel, ABC, CBS, FOX, Outside Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Weatherwise, and Restless Skies. She also had the honor of being the official photographer for the tornado used on the Movie Cover & Poster for the recent 2021 movie, "13 Minutes." Many of Melanie's video sales to major networks are accomplished through use of a video broker. Over the years, she has learned many tricks of the trade and looks forward to sharing what she has learned about video editing, brokering and network sales.

Lori Grace Bailey

Intro to chasing the monsoon & capturing lightning

Lori Grace Bailey is a professional wedding and portrait photographer who also enjoys chasing extreme weather and extraordinary skies. Whether chasing supercells in the Midwest, haboobs and prolific lightning in the southwest, or elusive sprites and blue jets when conditions are right, Lori’s passionate dedication of pursuing extreme weather allows her to consistently capture vivid and evocative imagery unique to her craft. She is the director of Monsoon Con, an annual convention in Tucson, Arizona, that brings together photographers and weather enthusiasts alike with an emphasis on storm-chasing the monsoons with success.

Lori’s work has appeared in major publications and media outlets, including the current 2023 “Tempest” issue of Flaunt Magazine, Issue 3 2022 of Cosmopolitan Magazine, and June 2021 issue of Backpacker Magazine. She’s a brand ambassador for F-Stop Gear.

Lori’s work can be seen on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter at @lorigraceaz or by visiting lorigraceaz.com.

Christiaan Patterson

Intro to the SPC/NWS & its relationship to chasers

Christiaan Patterson is a Meteorologist with the Greenville-Spartanburg Weather Forecast Office in South Carolina, and has a true passion for both meteorology and storm chasing. She has been captivated by weather since she was a toddler, despite growing up in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Christiaan has been storm chasing for 11 years and, while working as a news reporter in Oklahoma, witnessed the 2013 EF5 tornado in Moore that helped define her current career path.

Christiaan is a U.S. Navy Veteran, and holds degrees in Journalism (BA) and Meteorology (BS), and is pursuing an MS in Emergency Management. She has participated in several research and field projects including the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Fort Collins, CO, where she researched mesoscale convective systems (MCS) and the interactions of topography in Argentina; collecting in-situ windsond data by launching probes into the vorticity rivers of tornadic supercells with the Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells (TORUS) field campaign; and a University of Oklahoma project analyzing the connection between above-anvil cirrus plumes and hail size in Argentina. She also served as a Science Translator for the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center.

Becca Furnish

Intro to chasing the monsoon & capturing lightning
Storm Chasing Q&A Panelist

Becca is an Arizona-based photographer specializing in storm/landscape photography, weddings, portraits, product photography, and automotive. She’s been in the field for 14 years and owns her own business, Evolutionized Photography.

Becca is an avid storm chaser, with nine years under her belt. She primarily focuses on monsoon chasing but has more recently begun traveling to the Plains as well. Last June, she was featured on ABC talking about the monsoons and dangers of chasing storms and capturing lightning.

When she’s not behind a camera, you can find Becca hiking, exploring, playing volleyball, swimming, or spending time with family.

Randy Denzer

Safety & The Role of a Chaser in an Emergency

Randy Denzer is a retired Battalion Chief with over 30 years of experience in the fire service. He is recognized as an international expert in Wildland and Urban Interface firefighting disciplines and currently sits on a type 1 incident management team.

Randy is the Public Safety Director for the Spotter Network and is on the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) fire, weather and technology committee. Randy’s passion for weather began in the early 1990s when he served as a Skywarn spotter for a fire department in the Dallas, TX area. He has storm chased in TX since the early 1990’s and nationally since the early 2000s.

Randy has responded to many weather-related disasters as a first responder and while storm chasing. In 2007, he was the initial Incident Commander for the Greensburg, Kansas EF 5 tornado. Specializing in Wildland Urban Interface firefighting, he has responded to many megafires in both Texas and California, leading structural protection strike teams and task forces. Most recently, he was deployed to Florida for Hurricane Ian as the Logistics Section Chief for Ft Myers Beach.

Kathryn Prociv

Meteorology Q&A Panelist

Kathryn is an Emmy Award-winning Senior Meteorologist and Producer for NBC News in New York where she is responsible for all weather content that airs nationally across all platforms, including The Today Show and Nightly News. Before NBC, Kathryn spent five years as a meteorologist and weather producer at The Weather Channel.

In addition to working at NBC News, Kathryn is co-founder and EVP of Monarch Weather & Climate Intelligence. At Monarch, she identifies emerging markets in need of weather and climate insights, seeks out strategic partnerships, provides expert analysis, and supports the team in account and project management.

Kathryn is also proud to be one of the few active female Certified Consulting Meteorologists (CCM) in the world. Kathryn is a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and serves on the Board of Directors for Certified Consulting Meteorologists (CCM). She’s also a member of the Association of Certified Meteorologists (ACM) and National Weather Association (NWA). Kathryn holds a bachelor’s and a master’s from Virginia Tech.

Dr. Robin Tanamachi

Meteorology Q&A Panelist

Dr. Robin Tanamachi is an Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University. Her research mainly focuses on radar-based studies of severe convective storms and tornadoes, as well as atmospheric science education research. After being captivated by a tornado on television when she was a child, she received a Bachelor's in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Wisconsin -- Madison, and her Master's and Ph. D. degrees in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. She worked briefly at the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms and the National Severe Storms Laboratory, before moving to Purdue to teach meteorology to a new generation of students. She is married to another professor / meteorologist (Dr. Daniel Dawson); they have two children. In her spare time, she enjoys painting, cycling, and amateur radio.

Dr. Jana Houser

Meteorology Q&A Panelist

Dr. Houser is an associate professor of meteorology in the Department of Geography at
The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, where she teaches forecasting, mesoscale, and synoptic meteorology. She grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from Penn State University in 2004. She went on to pursue her Master of Science degree and Ph.D. in meteorology at The University of Oklahoma where she studied under the mentorship of Dr. Howard Bluestein from 2005-2013. After graduating with her PhD in 2013, she was a professor of meteorology at Ohio University in Athens, OH until making an institutional change in summer 2022.

Dr. Houser specializes in radar analysis of tornadoes and the supercell thunderstorms that commonly produce them by using state of the art mobile radar observations. She is currently funded by the National Science Foundation to study the interaction of tornadoes with the ground
beneath, addressing the problem of how topography and land cover impact tornado intensity and path. She has authored or co-authored 19 peer reviewed journal articles related to tornadoes and supercells, most of which have been published by the American Meteorological Society. Dr. Houser is the recipient of the Ohio University Jeanette Graselli Brown Faculty Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences, the University Professor award, the College of Arts and Sciences Award for Outstanding Research in the Physical Sciences, and the Ohio University Honors Tutorial College Outstanding Mentor of the Year award.

She is the mother of three daughters ages 10, 6, and 3. She enjoys gardening, outdoor
sports, running, fitness, cooking, and breeding her two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels on the
side. She also spends her free time singing, playing the piano, and serving in various capacities
at her church.

Amanda Viken

Meteorology Q&A Panelist

Amanda Viken is a National Weather Service meteorologist at the Weather Forecasting Office (WFO) in North Platte, NE, and a graduate of Iowa State University. Amanda began her journey with the NWS as a Pathways Summer Student Intern for WFOs in Medford, OR and Des Moines, IA. Now, she provides general weather forecasts/warnings and local expertise to the public, emergency managers, and public stakeholders located across western and north central Nebraska.

Amanda's areas of interest include fire weather, science communication, and outreach. She continuously pursues learning new ways to enhance her forecast and communication skills in order to meet the mission of saving lives and property. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, photography, and playing with her dog Bolt.

Vanessa Vincente

Meteorology Q&A panelist

Vanessa Vincente is an Associate Scientist for the COMET Program at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. In COMET, she works with a talented team of instructional designers, graphic artists, and multimedia developers to create customized learning experiences for the geoscience community. An important aspect of her work is collaborating with various professionals to understand the training needs in their workplace, and using that information to motivate the practical content and interactions that help the trainee achieve their learning goals. Vanessa has been involved in developing education and training resources in a variety of disciplines such as severe weather, tropical weather, winter weather, and satellite meteorology. Working in a variety of disciplines has given her the opportunity to work with professionals across the United States and from around the world such as Taiwan, Europe, and Africa.

Vanessa received her B.S. in Meteorology from Valparaiso University, and M.S. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University. She is married to another meteorologist Matthew, and enjoys spending time hiking the mountains of Colorado, playing softball, and going on storm chase adventures!

Jennifer Watson

Meteorology Q&A Panelist

Jennifer Watson is an Emmy-winning Meteorologist, talent on The Weather Channel's 'Weather Gone Viral' and 'Weird Earth' shows, and a speaker, podcaster and storm chaser. Jennifer is a dynamic talent with a passion for every aspect of weather and digital media. She is a published scientist and field meteorologist, who has literally lived out the movie Twister placing probes in front of potentially tornadic storms. She motivates audiences from the stage and drives engagement, including launching numerous Facebook Live campaigns for the biggest weather brand, garnering millions of views.

Jessica Moore

Storm Chasing Q&A Panelist

Jessica Moore is a meteorologist, photographer, and storm chaser of over 10 years based out of Colorado Springs, CO. She has a degree in Broadcast & Operational Meteorology from Mississippi State University.

Jessica grew up enamored by the wild weather extremes she experienced in Colorado, which sparked her passion for storm photography. Her passion is being in the field documenting all modes of extreme weather, from fires and floods to blizzards, hail storms, and tornadoes. She worked with WeatherNationTV as a field correspondent for over a year, and her extreme weather footage has been on The Weather Channel, ABC, NBC, CNN, CBS, AccuWeather, FOX Weather, and more.

Jessica recently launched a storm chasing tour company called Stormscapes Photo Tours and looks forward to sharing her passion for weather with her tour guests.

Shannon Bileski

Storm Chasing Q&A Panelist

Shannon Bileski is a landscape photographer from East Selkirk, Manitoba. Storms first sparked her passion for photography, and she started trying to get decent shots of lightning at age 8. She saw her first tornado in 2007 and purchased a DSLR camera right after that to start taking storm photography more seriously. In 2009, she finally got her first real shot of lightning - and now has over 15 years of storm and aurora photography experience under her belt. She’s a fully self-taught chaser and travels thousands of miles every year both in the U.S. and Canada to seek out and shoot storms/aurora.

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