Public Engagement

I have made a number of TV and radio appearances talking about the weather, all starting with the St. Jude Storm of 28 Oct 2013, Where I appeared on Sky News, BBC News, ITV Meridian News, Channel 4 news, BBC radios 4 and 5live as well as others.

I have continued making expert comment since and am regularly seen after storms or flooding events, but also other weather extremes.

Undeniably, my most famous moment came in 2022 when a crude experiment done while my new laptop installed software updates, I took my phone outside to film me turning some cups of water over (intended for my kids).

In this experiment Dr Rob Thompson of @UniRdg_Met shows just how long it takes water to soak into parched ground, illustrating why heavy rainfall after a #drought can be dangerous and might lead to flashfloods. @R0b1et @UniRdg_water pic.twitter.com/zbb3xLTXdK

— Uni of Reading (@UniofReading) August 10, 2022

For a few weeks after that I become very popular, it turns out that a simple, crude repeatable (but also quite flawed) experiment really hit home and was an amazing way to get to talk about the real science we do. That tweet had some very high profile likes and shares which only helped with it's traction, it of course had it's detractors, the science here is not robust, there are excellent ways to do this study in a much more robust way and I would encourage people to do it, but they are not the simple, repeatable visual this is, and they will get the same overall result.

I have given talks at local primary schools about weather and a morning hands on session at various schools. I attended Cheltenham Science Festival performing practical demonstrations of atmospheric dynamics. By attending careers fairs, I have demonstrated the science of meteorology to prospective students. ANd talked to various science interest groups.

Thanks to all of this I won in 2023 the Royal Meteorological Society's < a href='https://www.rmets.org/awards-educating-inspiring-and-enthusing-2023'>Michael Hunt Award for Increasing Public Understanding of Meteorology and its Applications. Of which I am imansely proud, and that has given me the drive to continue to help spread understanding of weather science to the public.