http://weatherbrains.com/weatherbrains/?p=1278
Joining us as our guest panelist this week is Ashley Brand, weekend meteorologist with ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, AL. Ashley joined the ABC 33/40 weather team in January, 2007. Unlike many meteorologists, Ashley’s love for and interest in the weather wasn’t evident during her childhood. Growing up she was afraid of thunderstorms. That changed, though, during the Blizzard of 1993. While watching continuous coverage of the Birmingham storm, Ashley could not get enough information. It was then she decided to pursue a career in meteorology.
Ashley graduated from Mississippi State University in 2001 with a degree in Broadcast Meteorology. After graduating from MSU in 2001, she spent two weeks chasing storms throughout the great plains. The girl who was afraid of bad weather was now tracking supercell thunderstorms and dodging baseball-sized hail. Ashley’s first job in television was at WTVY-TV in Dothan. She became that market’s first meteorologist to fly into a hurricane with the Hurricane Hunters flying through the eye of Hurricane Ivan. When the storm came ashore, she reported live from Destin, FL.
In her spare time she enjoys working out, running and spending time with her husband and their dog, a Black Lab named Nimbus.
Our WeatherBrains guest for this episode is
Eric Pinder. Eric was born in upstate New York, attended college in western Massachusetts, graduated, and some time later drove to northern New Hampshire in a rusty Chevy Nova packed with a few clothes, almost no furniture, and about a dozen boxes of books.
Eric’s lifelong interests in science and the outdoors led to jobs at the Appalachian Mountain Club and Mount Washington Observatory. For seven years he lived and worked as a weather observer atop the snowy, windswept, 6288-foot summit of Mount Washington, the “Home of the World’s Worst Weather.” His experiences there inspired several books, including his first book for children, Cat in the Clouds, published by The History Press. He is also an avid nature photographer. His articles and stories have appeared in Weatherwise, Appalachian Trailway News, Newsday, Bostonia, and other publications. He teaches at Chester College of New England and occasionally teaches an introductory weather course at Barnes & Noble University. His books include Tying Down the Wind, Sheep Football and North to Katahdin, which is about the appeal of mountains and wilderness. He also is working on a novel and several children’s books.
Eric enjoys hiking and biking up the hills of New Hampshire, but has not yet qualified to join the Four Thousand Footer Club (for people who have climbed each of the state’s 48 peaks rising 4000+ feet). He has, however, climbed one of those peaks (Mount Washington) at least 48 times and thinks that ought to count. He lives in Berlin, New Hampshire.
