Welcome to A Dam Conversation – With Bill Kappel

This is an Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) podcast sharing the stories of leaders and innovators in the dam safety community. Your host for this episode is Matt Marquis. 

In this episode, we welcome Bill Kappel, President and Chief Meteorologist of Applied Weather Associates. Prior to joining AWA in 2003, he served as an on-air meteorologist for 10 years at various television stations across the country. The focus of activity at AWA has been development of Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP), precipitation frequency development, and application of climate change projections related to numerous meteorological variables that affect critical infrastructure, specifically in the dam safety community. Bill has also been a guest instructor at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.    

Bill, thank you for sharing your story and advice on career insights and technical expertise for engineers at all levels. 

Key Takeaways from This Episode

Matt and Bill discuss:

• The importance of taking advantage of coop or internship opportunities for students and not being afraid to reach out to others in the field to ask questions or offer help 
• Finding something you are passionate about and that keeps you curious
• How the Puget Sound Convergence Zone inspired a young kid to pursue a career in weather
• What Bill looks for in a new hire; Be coachable, open to new ideas and experiences, and don’t be afraid to find new ways to solve old problems
• You can’t fake confidence; Whether in athletics or dam safety engineering, it has to be earned through practice and hard work and is built on fundamentals of the science

We want to hear from you!

Have questions for our guests? Want to suggest a topic? Email us at [info@damsafety.org] – we’d love to hear from you!

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