Spotlight on Amanda Reynolds
/BY CARA SCHAEFER
“Follow your dreams” is an oft-repeated phrase, but what does it take to actually do so? We talk with Amanda Reynolds about meteorology, weather broadcasting, and perseverance.
Photos courtesy of Amanda Reynolds.
OUT THERE: What sparked your interest in meteorology?
AMANDA REYNOLDS: I was always really interested in weather as a kid. In elementary school, we had to do a nature journal. Basically, we had to pick some sort of aspect of nature that we wanted to do a project on every quarter. I did tornadoes..and hurricanes, and earthquakes. And I got to the point that my teacher was like, “Okay, for the fourth quarter, you have to do something that's not weather.”
Then that summer, the summer of 2005, one of my best friends and I decided we were going to do a hurricane journal. We were going to track all of the hurricanes that summer. Well, it turned out that summer was the most active hurricane season on record, where they had gone to the Greek alphabet for the very first time. And so we had a whole lot of hurricanes to track and that was really the catalyst. It was like, “Oh, this is really fun! I really enjoy this.” And from then on, I just wanted to study weather all the time.
OT: Do you have a go-to cool weather fact?
There's no such thing as heat lightning. Lightning that you can see, but don't hear any thunder, is just too far away for you to hear the thunder.
OT: One thing you're passionate about is supporting women in STEM careers. What has made you feel supported as a woman in the STEM field?
AR: When I was in high school I knew that I wanted to do weather and broadcasting, and I had a lot of pushback from people. We had a vocational school that was tied to our high school and they had a broadcast and media program. I wanted to do that and everyone's like, “You're smart. Like, you're gifted. Why would you want to go to the tech school? You're better than that.”
They didn’t understand what it was really about, so being able to push through that, and the support I got once I was in that program, was really important. And then when I was able to go to college, there were all sorts of female role models that I would see at Penn State. To see people living the life that I wanted to live eventually was really inspiring. Now I strive to be someone that can be inspiring for others.
OT: What are some challenges you faced pursuing a STEM career in meteorology?
AR: Sexism was always something that's been there. I had issues with that at one of my positions, But I think, growing up...I'm a very tiny person. I'm only about five feet tall. And so I was always treated like I was so much younger and almost inferior to everybody else. People would tell me “you don't know what you want”. Like, you're so young, even though I was a late teenager. And I’ve known what I wanted to do my entire life, and so kind of being able to prove to people that I know what I want to do, I am good at what I do, and you should believe in me as much as I believe in myself. Most of the time, people understand and people listen. Sometimes, unfortunately, there are people that don't. And sometimes you just have to get over that and move on, because they're not going to change their mind no matter what you do or say.
OT: Are there any weather broadcasting myths you would like to clear up?
AR: One myth is that the meteorologists you see on TV are just a pretty face, especially females. We put a lot of work into what we do. A majority of the people that you see working on TV doing weather have gone to school for years to study weather, to learn how to forecast and learn how the weather works. Just because they're on TV, doesn't mean that they're not good at science.
Also, one thing that comes up with weather a lot is, “How can you do your job and get paid if you're wrong 50% of the time?” Well, what we often liken it to is a March Madness bracket. You're predicting a bracket all the way out, and if one thing goes wrong early in your bracket, your bracket becomes a mess very quickly. There's lots of different aspects to forecasting weather, and so you have to be very careful about what you do and say, at what exact point.
And just because we say there's a 50% chance it’s going to rain, doesn't mean there's a 100% chance that it's going to rain where you are. It may be raining five miles away. Just because it's wrong for you one day, doesn't mean that we don't know what we're doing. We're good at what we do, but we can’t predict the future.
OT: What advice would you give someone who's looking to pursue a childhood dream?
AR: Don't listen to what people say. If you know what you want to do, follow that to the best of your ability. If your dreams change, that's fine. But if they don't, you'll have a leg up when you do get to a point that you can follow it.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
You can find Amanda on Twitter.
