Sydney Walters-Vangorden

Biography

I graduated from Ohio University in December of 2022 with my B.S. in Meteorology. After graduation, I worked at WeatherNews in Norman, Oklahoma for about a year and half. While I was there, I worked as a voyage planner, where I forecasted and provided route plans to shipping vessels around the world. I learned to appreciate all things tropical meteorology and hurricanes while working there, which brought me back to grad school, where I earned my M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences in August of 2026. I am working with Dr. Carstens on developing a global climatology of tropical cyclone wind fields using Integrated Kinetic Energy, using best track data and high resolution satellite imagery in this analysis. Additonally, I am in the first cohort of graduate students in the interdisiplinary NSF STREAM-NRT program, where I will be evaluating flooding risks associated with Predecessor Rain Events (PREs) and tropcial cyclones. 

Outside of the department, I am a member of the UND Graduate Student Advisory Council where I advocate and support the needs of graduate students in the School of Aerospace Sciences. I am also involved with the American Meteorological Society, where I current serve as a Co-Chair in Training for the Board on Student Affairs, and have previously been invovled with the Student Conference Planning Committee, Student Outreach and Engagement Committee, and the Specialty Meetings and Events committee.