Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
I’m an electrical engineer who enjoys listening to and sharing stories of ordinarily extraordinary women that work in STEM fields. The women featured on these episodes work in different STEM fields, are at different phases in their careers, and bring their unique perspectives and stories. I am endlessly fascinated by what these women do, how they have navigated their careers, balanced families, and why they made the career choices they did. Most STEM fields are dominated by men which makes for unique circumstances for women to navigate. It’s a privilege to be able to share their stories through this podcast.
Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
111. Lydia Blume; Meteorologist; BS in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
Lydia Blume is the Morning Meteorologist at WDAY in Fargo, North Dakota. Lydia has a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology. She focuses on communications of scientific information to non-scientific people.
What do we talk about in this episode?
Lydia talks about her love for meteorology and weather from a young age. She grew up on a farm in rural South Dakota, fascinated by weather and never deviated in her goal of becoming a meteorologist. She shares the challenges of being a female meteorologist, including being pregnant, on live TV in the age of social media.
- "Nothing great comes from your comfort zone".
- Her insane schedule - she wakes up at 2 a.m. to get to work and prepare for live TV which starts at 5 a.m. All of this with a 16 month old baby.
- How she became interested in being a meteorologist at a young age and has been laster focused on achieving this goal ever since.
- How she handles the negative comments she gets from viewers (people are mean - be nice people!!)
- The importance of the spouse or life partner you choose. Her husband is her biggest champion and supporter.
- Being pregnant in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers on live TV.
- The science behind weather forecasting, weather balloons, and the importance of humans behind computer generated forecasts.
- Meteorologists are not weather girls!!!
Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio
You can support my podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/user?u=72701887
Resources
Lydia Blume: https://www.facebook.com/lydiablumewx/
There are 122 National Weather Center Offices throughout the United States. They typically consist of 20 - 50 counties per office. (https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/wfos)
An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist, is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the
