Storm-chasing and its effects on Meteorology

Geography professor and 2013 Russell Teaching Award recipient John Knox weighs in with some much needed context (and some much-needed chiding) on the deleterious effects of storm-chasing on the field of meteorology in a USA Today op-ed:

Before the Twister effect, meteorology was a pretty sedate and obscure pursuit, a small department or program at only a few dozen universities. But the total market penetration of Twister changed everything. Some colleges and universities responded to student interest by creating summer storm-chase classes, during which students and faculty would drive out to the Great Plains to chase. Enrollments swelled. Storm chasing was sexy, it was "experiential learning," it brought in additional tuition dollars, and everyone from students and their parents to university presidents and their PR people loved it. Chasing, once an occasional dessert after the meat and vegetables of math-and physics-intensive coursework in meteorology, became, in some cases, the main course.

Much later, I crunched the student statistics. The number of U.S. bachelor's degree recipients in meteorology shot up 47% from 1994 to 2004, compared with a 20% increase in college graduates during that decade. No other similar scientific field experienced a similar increase in degree recipients during this time, and many actually experienced decreases. 

Storm-chasing is like a reality show meets science. The only problem is, reality shows don't meet science in any way: science is about data, rigor, peer-review and repetition. Reality shows are about people willing to do anything to become famous. Even as it did involve scientists, the recent tragedy in Oklahoma has brought this phenomenon to a head. Kudos to our faculty members (Marshall Shepherd commented on the same subject on the NBC Nightly News earlier this week) for bringing some clarity to understanding, and hopefully reining in, a cultural moment in need of a station break.

Image: Storm chasers at work in WaKeeney, Kan., in 2008, when Kansas had more than 180 tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service, via AP