College of Education and Behavioral Sciences News

A tropical island breeze is blowing for WKU’s White Squirrel Weather.

As part of White Squirrel Weather’s partnership with Beam Suntory and WeatherSTEM, a weather monitoring station was recently installed at the Cruzan Rum Distillery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

“WeatherSTEM’s partnership with Dr. Josh Durkee and his team at WKU’s White Squirrel Weather has been extraordinary,” WeatherSTEM CEO Ed Mansouri said. “We are very excited to play a small role in the great advancements White Squirrel Weather has made in weather monitoring inside as well as outside Kentucky. The latest deployment of a weather monitoring system in the U.S. Virgin Islands at the Cruzan Rum Distillery is just the latest of many examples of our exciting collaboration.”

White Squirrel Weather launched in October 2016 and has been working with WeatherSTEM since 2017 to provide hyperlocal forecasts and customized data at 17 sites in Kentucky, one in Alabama and now one in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Eight stations are located at Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark facilities along Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail. The Beam Suntory sites provide on-site weather monitoring, which is vital for distillery operations and for large gatherings or VIP events, said Dr. Josh Durkee, Professor of Meteorology and University Meteorologist.

Beam Suntory recently reached out to White Squirrel Weather about providing the same weather monitoring, forecasts and support for its Cruzan Rum facility, Dr. Durkee said.

“This partnership gives our students the chance to interface with private industry, practice forecasting and develop critical skills as they move on and look for jobs after graduation,” he said. “These applied, experiential learning opportunities that provide a service to businesses and communities set the WKU Meteorology program apart.”

WeatherSTEM, a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach-based company in Tallahassee, Florida, focuses on education, public and sports health and safety, and agriculture through the deployment of innovative weather instrumentation, data and education content.

“It’s remarkable that in a just few short years, WKU has positioned itself amongst the premier meteorology programs in higher education and the hands-on experiences their students receive via the White Squirrel Weather program are invaluable,” Mansouri said.

Graduate student John Bowen of Louisville and senior Casey Archey of Murray are among 29 WKU students participating this year in the White Squirrel Weather program through weather forecasting/monitoring and emergency management operations. (Follow @WKUweather on Twitter)

As a graduate assistant, Bowen is leading research under way in WKU’s new Disaster Science Operation Center and is working with undergraduate students to produce weather forecasts for the university.

“The applied learning provided by White Squirrel Weather is one of the greatest strengths of our program,” said Bowen, who has been part of the program as an undergraduate and graduate student. “We get hands-on experience forecasting and providing decision support services for real events such as Division I college athletics, local outdoor events like the Cage the Elephant concert, and larger operations such as the NASCAR Ally 400 race in Nashville. Not only are these providing real-world experiences, but it also shows employers that we know how to work in a professional environment once we leave WKU. The addition of our weather station at Cruzan is just one more way that our forecasters are able to gain practical and tangible forecasting experience as they work toward their degrees.”

Archey is serving as White Squirrel Weather’s Emergency Management Student Coordinator this year and ensures that its emergency operations center is staffed during athletic events.

“Our latest additions to White Squirrel Weather allows me to expand my forecast abilities in that instead of just completing forecasts for mainland USA, I get to add knowledge and techniques in tropical meteorology and how to forecast for events like hurricanes, sea breezes, and various other tropical phenomena,” Archey said. “The WKU Meteorology applied experiences allow meteorology students to learn how to forecast in non-perfect scenarios. We learn how to build relationships with companies based on our forecast correctness, and how different atmospheric scenarios change various meteorological variables. It boosts our resumes, and really sets us apart from traditional meteorology students who may not receive these kinds of experiences.”

Dr. Leslie North, Interim Chair of WKU’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, said: “The expansion of our White Squirrel Weather operation to an international location creates yet another one-of-a-kind applied learning opportunity for our students. Under the direction of Dr. Josh Durkee, the operation has been able to transcend any learning experiences we could offer our students through traditional classroom instruction. Our students are getting an opportunity to not only apply their knowledge of meteorology but also complete their education through real-world experience, working and consulting with international partners and businesses.”

White Squirrel Weather is a prime example of the applied learning opportunities available for WKU students, said Dr. David Brown, dean of Ogden College of Science and Engineering.

“Dr. Durkee has established a program in which students form a real professional team, gaining valuable experience as they learn,” he said. “This newest venture, installing a weather station on the U.S. Virgin Islands, extends the students’ educational boundaries -- quite literally! In addition to professional training, it provides cultural enrichment and wonderful memories. We are very lucky in the Ogden College of Science and Engineering to have outstanding faculty members like Dr. Durkee who open doors to possibilities for our students.”

Contact: Dr. Josh Durkee, (270) 745-8777

-WKU-

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.