Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Episode 5: Marshall Shepherd
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Episode 5: Marshall Shepherd
Before Marshall Shepherd was bitten by the weather bug, he wanted to be an entomologist. But as luck would have it (at least for the fields of weather and climate science), Marshall changed his sixth-grade science project from honey bees to weather prediction after he had found out that he was highly allergic to bee stings. That science project marked the beginning of Marshall’s passion for weather, which has led him to become professor of geography and atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia.
Marshall is particularly well known for his work on urban weather and climate, where he has shown that large urban areas can have a more substantial impact on the atmosphere than had been previously though — that is, cities can make their own weather to some extent. In addition to doing research and teaching, Marshall hosts his own podcast, Weather Geeks, which grew out of the award-winning Sunday talk show he did for some years on the Weather Channel. He writes a regular column for Forbes, and does a lot of service to the scientific community at the highest levels — e.g., he served as President of the American Meteorological Society in 2013. In between all of these activities, Marshall regularly finds the time to testify before Congress and provide expertise to federal agencies.
To Marshall, public outreach and service is an integral part of being a scientist:
“I’ve actually been working or pushing really hard to try to advocate that engagement and service becomes more of a part of that sort of calculus for things like promotions and tenure because I don’t view it as something extra when I do these things. I view it […] as a synthesis of a broader mission that we have.”
The interview with Marshall Shepherd was recorded in August 2020. Photo credit: Nancy Evelyn
View all episodes
By Deep Convection
4.8
4545 ratings
Before Marshall Shepherd was bitten by the weather bug, he wanted to be an entomologist. But as luck would have it (at least for the fields of weather and climate science), Marshall changed his sixth-grade science project from honey bees to weather prediction after he had found out that he was highly allergic to bee stings. That science project marked the beginning of Marshall’s passion for weather, which has led him to become professor of geography and atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia.
Marshall is particularly well known for his work on urban weather and climate, where he has shown that large urban areas can have a more substantial impact on the atmosphere than had been previously though — that is, cities can make their own weather to some extent. In addition to doing research and teaching, Marshall hosts his own podcast, Weather Geeks, which grew out of the award-winning Sunday talk show he did for some years on the Weather Channel. He writes a regular column for Forbes, and does a lot of service to the scientific community at the highest levels — e.g., he served as President of the American Meteorological Society in 2013. In between all of these activities, Marshall regularly finds the time to testify before Congress and provide expertise to federal agencies.
To Marshall, public outreach and service is an integral part of being a scientist:
“I’ve actually been working or pushing really hard to try to advocate that engagement and service becomes more of a part of that sort of calculus for things like promotions and tenure because I don’t view it as something extra when I do these things. I view it […] as a synthesis of a broader mission that we have.”
The interview with Marshall Shepherd was recorded in August 2020. Photo credit: Nancy Evelyn
More shows like Deep Convection
View all
This American Life
90,431 Listeners
Planet Money
30,853 Listeners
The Rachel Maddow Show
37,509 Listeners
Freakonomics Radio
32,121 Listeners
The New Yorker Radio Hour
6,672 Listeners
The Daily
112,814 Listeners
Up First from NPR
56,200 Listeners
Behind the Bastards
15,141 Listeners
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
58,781 Listeners
Hard Fork
5,377 Listeners
Huberman Lab
28,212 Listeners
The Ezra Klein Show
14,859 Listeners
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
9,759 Listeners
Inside with Jen Psaki
968 Listeners
The Rest Is Classified
776 Listeners