The 29th Annual Weather, Water, and Climate Symposium was held on Friday, March 21st, 2025 at the US Bank Conference Theater in the Ohio Union.
2025 Speakers:
(9:15 AM) Dr. Aaron Wilson
“2024 Drought in Ohio”
Dr. Aaron Wilson is an Assistant Professor, Agriculture Weather and Climate Field Specialist with the Department of Extension in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. He is also the State Climatologist of Ohio working at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center.
(10:15 AM) Mike Bettes
“Weather: It’s a Head Game”
A 1995 Ohio State graduate, Mike Bettes is an award-winning meteorologist for The Weather Channel. No stranger to severe weather, he has covered nearly every extreme weather event since he began at The Weather Channel in 2003. In 2009 and 2010, he was part of the largest tornado field experiment in history, Vortex 2, to help better understand the phenomenon. Mike was the first person to broadcast the Joplin, Missouri tornado in 2011, arriving on the scene just minutes after it hit. He also witnessed the El Reno, Oklahoma tornado in 2013, which holds the record as the largest tornado in recorded history.
During his career, Mike has covered nearly every type of weather imaginable…blizzards, floods, wildfires, and hurricanes. He’s reported live from some of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history…Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Harvey, Irma, Michael, and most recently, Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Before The Weather Channel, Mike was chief meteorologist at WLOS-TV in Asheville, NC. Earlier, he spent four years at WSYX/WTTE in Columbus, Ohio, and began his career at WKEF in Dayton, Ohio.
When he’s not on TV, Mike enjoys racing in triathlons, kayaking, and rooting on the National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes!
(12:00 PM) Dr. Joseph Chan
“Marrying Ensembles and Observations to Improve Numerical Weather Prediction”
Joseph Chan originally hails from the tiny sunny equatorial island nation of Singapore where he obtained his Bachelors’ in Physics from the National University of Singapore in 2017. In December 2022, Joseph earned his PhD in Meteorology and Atmospheric Science from the Pennsylvania State University. He then spent a 12-month stint at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in 2023 as an Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral Fellow. In January 2024, Joseph joined the Department of Geography at the Ohio State University (his alma mater’s football nemesis) as a tenure-track Assistant Professor.
The goal of Joseph’s research career is to improve Earth system forecasts and research-accelerating datasets through the Big Data Geospatial Fusion of observations with numerical Earth system models. More specifically, Joseph is a data assimilation specialist. His research is centered around 1) improving the usage of underutilized and new observations in data assimilation, and 2) developing novel powerful and efficient data assimilation methods to enhance forecasts and datasets.
Joseph currently teaches data processing and analysis for atmospheric science, as well as physical meteorology (cloud physics and atmospheric radiation).
Outside of research, Joseph is an avid gardener of pollinator plants and flowers. He also lives in perpetual adoration and servitude of his orange feline overlord, Pumpkin.
(1:00 PM) Eddie Wolff
“Nowcasting Tornadoes: Perspectives on QLCS Tornadogenesis and Tornado Emergencies”
Eddie Wolff is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Climate, Meteorology, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on updraft and tornado dynamics in quasi-linear convective systems (QLCSs), using radar observations and numerical simulations to improve our understanding of these storms. His broader research interests include tornado warning performance, thunderstorm and tornado-induced wind effects on low-rise structures, and the intersection of meteorology with social sciences. Eddie has participated in several field experiments including serving as a radar operator for the PERiLS project, which investigated QLCS tornadoes in the southeastern United States. He holds an M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from UIUC (2023) and a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from The Ohio State University (2021).
(2:45 PM) Eric Wilhelm
“Remembering the May 31, 1985 Tornado Outbreak: 40 Years Later”
Eric Wilhelm is the Chief Meteorologist at 21 WFMJ in Youngstown, Ohio, a position he has held since January 2013. A native of New Philadelphia, Ohio and a 2001 graduate of Ohio State, Eric spent the first 11 years of his career at AccuWeather, Inc. in State College, PA before returning to the Buckeye State.
(3:45 PM) Dr. Cory Martin
“Recent and Planned Progress in Operational Numerical Weather Prediction”
Dr. Cory Martin, an Ohio State Alumni, is a physical scientist with a focus on atmospheric modeling to better improve meteorological forecasts. His primary area of expertise is on data assimilation, which is the improvement of model forecasts from the inclusion of observational data, with experience in global atmospheric, aerosol and atmospheric composition, and snow data assimilation. He holds a B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from The Ohio State University (2013) and M.S. (2016) and Ph. D. (2018) in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Maryland, College Park. Cory is also the 2025 President of the OSU Atmospheric Sciences Alumni Society.
